tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72804399844136636432024-03-18T04:03:37.522+01:00CycleItaliaLarry and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346445393389942837noreply@blogger.comBlogger1051125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280439984413663643.post-83433885689050085492024-03-17T18:12:00.004+01:002024-03-17T18:12:24.993+01:00Spring is here...almost<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b> Sunny Sunday in Sicily</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2q_aAjwB4nu2rz44m3_ojPAOzplwLiJ0Vuqk7JX0e8pBKFJ5hlSYRlIes4HVIb-mcEE4j0nXFKm2_K28_YtsgFdP_idX8MLjfJ0hqFZn-aiU1oMy9LXJD910IjkcS-Rn7JCrfsxTfDXQbJnWJ2cIMpsy90e36d6vf0XPNEIsjBofWE-XLvHvOLD_5Vgk/s2992/20240317_132029.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2992" data-original-width="2992" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2q_aAjwB4nu2rz44m3_ojPAOzplwLiJ0Vuqk7JX0e8pBKFJ5hlSYRlIes4HVIb-mcEE4j0nXFKm2_K28_YtsgFdP_idX8MLjfJ0hqFZn-aiU1oMy9LXJD910IjkcS-Rn7JCrfsxTfDXQbJnWJ2cIMpsy90e36d6vf0XPNEIsjBofWE-XLvHvOLD_5Vgk/s320/20240317_132029.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Milano-Sanremo was yesterday. <i>La Primavera</i> is the start of spring and for us, the start of the real cycling season. So Sunday was time to get out on our own bikes! A ride down the coast on quiet roads, then inland and uphill, climbing what locals call <i>Il Carciofo</i>, the artichoke. Turns out we were on the route of the Mediofondo, <i>Giro di Carciofi</i> held earlier today.</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFX9qIMKL7EKRCdb7oVSOjHVE-0z7onGDsq4eNQ0ZKHKgiW9cqm7PNlyFQorX75UCsWXH36fJaFmdkRzA-rzrfx77YfJzIowgTR-lKle1iqar4tIeD0aAVnaz-pAVPoLFcJktOvFEJI6ssg36lL2pYkxGl1wcdDBE5PAUiAk815n8C4xAcyvsdx_kYs-E/s2992/20240317_140915.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2992" data-original-width="2992" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFX9qIMKL7EKRCdb7oVSOjHVE-0z7onGDsq4eNQ0ZKHKgiW9cqm7PNlyFQorX75UCsWXH36fJaFmdkRzA-rzrfx77YfJzIowgTR-lKle1iqar4tIeD0aAVnaz-pAVPoLFcJktOvFEJI6ssg36lL2pYkxGl1wcdDBE5PAUiAk815n8C4xAcyvsdx_kYs-E/s320/20240317_140915.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">No racing for us today! Our goal was to arrive at <a href="https://www.casedamma.it/index_eng.asp#googtrans/it/en">Case Damma</a> in time for lunch! As you can see above we made it...40 kms into our ride. And what a lunch it was!! Eight or nine <i>antipasti</i>: fresh ricotta, salami, zucchine, olives, cheese and more followed by two first plates - a lasagne with pistachio and a pasta with tomato, sausage and wild fennel. If that wasn't enough, a second plate was served, a pork roll in a spicy sauce.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Desert was up next, a sort of <i>tiramisu</i> with a shot of <i>Zibibbo</i> wine to wash it down. We could barely get out of our chairs and back on the bikes!!!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcTdFAswyQeoEzsHQasUhiQGhzIazPgtC7cx08H0pJW7i3w9-WrjmVmLJJv_ErWKE5oJkVKX7Fv1cL_diHvvJrBXpcr2eegkR5pl_yC6V8ykCerRO_0EE6VFt_hIxPWEWDqi9v79d9HESDk82pBFmZPM4HEt2vVgnT1zJWz3tRYbbYCEAM_RtCYH-i5Lc/s2992/20240317_150850.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2992" data-original-width="2992" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcTdFAswyQeoEzsHQasUhiQGhzIazPgtC7cx08H0pJW7i3w9-WrjmVmLJJv_ErWKE5oJkVKX7Fv1cL_diHvvJrBXpcr2eegkR5pl_yC6V8ykCerRO_0EE6VFt_hIxPWEWDqi9v79d9HESDk82pBFmZPM4HEt2vVgnT1zJWz3tRYbbYCEAM_RtCYH-i5Lc/s320/20240317_150850.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The proprietor had this nicely restored Matchless on display so the two-wheeled connection was there too!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA116gCGWIN6dlYA0vKIKPRTOWYYRs-uUA0VLHpYo1ZKRmkNzfnNt6dR-XDZsdQC21b-yNEnC7H47HBGDnAHt4gxFHJ0pXEKsEPJ-C3f3LFOJOlVwHIuPmjYCwbZ2kKPZMaZ1EDP4XJ21d2WqCL866ELTZt8T5NJcfSMLQ-vHDtYt06ZFud8Amquwmxgs/s2992/20240314_103417.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2992" data-original-width="2992" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA116gCGWIN6dlYA0vKIKPRTOWYYRs-uUA0VLHpYo1ZKRmkNzfnNt6dR-XDZsdQC21b-yNEnC7H47HBGDnAHt4gxFHJ0pXEKsEPJ-C3f3LFOJOlVwHIuPmjYCwbZ2kKPZMaZ1EDP4XJ21d2WqCL866ELTZt8T5NJcfSMLQ-vHDtYt06ZFud8Amquwmxgs/s320/20240314_103417.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Meanwhile, we noticed this painted on a wall near one of our favorite market vendors the other day. The famous author of the Montalbano books, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Camilleri">Andrea Camilleri.</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Hope you had a great Sunday as well!</div><br /><b style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></b></span><p></p>Larry and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346445393389942837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280439984413663643.post-3616025064761642352024-03-12T16:47:00.009+01:002024-03-15T12:33:23.833+01:00Fixed!<p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><i> -MV-AGUSTA E-Gravel Bike</i></span></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUcmAbdKpnOEmSMn_jVA_Es6ApJrPVHAoDVghCnC5QIi5mGRqNfTXlWxx8y2ukLvXKG04PcNqvvNy3Jxh7qVObChG2wN90SuV-heBfn536BHqBag49U6C-tC0LTf2M67hxKhfAwmbLd8ZQGnr__iFBJMyjgRZiDJTLWQQ5jPthchg1r_eCXj7hKMHDfpY/s2992/20240312_162459.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2041" data-original-width="2992" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUcmAbdKpnOEmSMn_jVA_Es6ApJrPVHAoDVghCnC5QIi5mGRqNfTXlWxx8y2ukLvXKG04PcNqvvNy3Jxh7qVObChG2wN90SuV-heBfn536BHqBag49U6C-tC0LTf2M67hxKhfAwmbLd8ZQGnr__iFBJMyjgRZiDJTLWQQ5jPthchg1r_eCXj7hKMHDfpY/w400-h272/20240312_162459.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Fixed! Cancer-stick related logo covered!</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXPB0Xakwet_PrqA4nQBJ6PCFimtEH_85r5EB8CqpoSKKlcd7jN8G9YdHTX3kA_j8n_YvQbIoLcRHWlDY8mat0MXBzJkZKCauAk7HZ0GSHaaapG1CtbTUUU-182Nu9ArZxNMJnTY5uxbd3Evj-AacD5OXFXvho6vzjtidzHrE0aNtZBaAkotqzZ8hMZws/s2992/20240312_162429.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2992" data-original-width="2992" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXPB0Xakwet_PrqA4nQBJ6PCFimtEH_85r5EB8CqpoSKKlcd7jN8G9YdHTX3kA_j8n_YvQbIoLcRHWlDY8mat0MXBzJkZKCauAk7HZ0GSHaaapG1CtbTUUU-182Nu9ArZxNMJnTY5uxbd3Evj-AacD5OXFXvho6vzjtidzHrE0aNtZBaAkotqzZ8hMZws/s320/20240312_162429.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: xx-small;">You almost can't tell with the white background strip</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Now the bike looks like it should, right? In a perfect world a -MV-Agusta would be red/silver like the ones <i>Giacomo Agostini</i> raced on, but <i>Zio</i>'s not gonna take this thing apart and send it out for a repaint! Maybe a red <i>SMP Glider</i> saddle with red bar tape to match will liven things up? Check back, tape's on-the-way and saddle already here.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcgPmvWHKlM6FVRN42xNW4EM60Jantl1xlWAu7hvtLY-YOzcyKyEKzL2Ve4hKDKVlBOUcjf5Om3ms6oe5ZMMJnmQn3WsKnKXdmPF6lx7YJHJTN4BmUPb4AHmd1PAyqQUWkooo5ddtGypWIS_1uVS4tT19RKFTAmU70ZbQop1haSJKjMd8SEH5vT5waKuE/s4000/20230711_141544.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcgPmvWHKlM6FVRN42xNW4EM60Jantl1xlWAu7hvtLY-YOzcyKyEKzL2Ve4hKDKVlBOUcjf5Om3ms6oe5ZMMJnmQn3WsKnKXdmPF6lx7YJHJTN4BmUPb4AHmd1PAyqQUWkooo5ddtGypWIS_1uVS4tT19RKFTAmU70ZbQop1haSJKjMd8SEH5vT5waKuE/s320/20230711_141544.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: xx-small;">The proper colors for MV, forget that cancer-stick livery!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivjUfXYbLEvwYxra5vxu0SafrdPDozX9WMQ3J3WmxwaSoddizODKowK8JHlpbwTZhOdHB-ialjOcx4h1UyndemZHQKsswR36hRbwXrv9Y0k47RMDMgpJrhkkUwKxJcXwWrg6JMx5NWAsGWdvwsdPu6c0HWdkSlnGKaczrOiyxl05bwm6XHH4siyQp_-j4/s3643/20190409_111535-22-30.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2764" data-original-width="3643" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivjUfXYbLEvwYxra5vxu0SafrdPDozX9WMQ3J3WmxwaSoddizODKowK8JHlpbwTZhOdHB-ialjOcx4h1UyndemZHQKsswR36hRbwXrv9Y0k47RMDMgpJrhkkUwKxJcXwWrg6JMx5NWAsGWdvwsdPu6c0HWdkSlnGKaczrOiyxl05bwm6XHH4siyQp_-j4/s320/20190409_111535-22-30.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: xx-small;">The last MV Agusta <i>Zio</i> rode.</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>He's getting used-to the flared and aero-shaped carbon handlebar along with the more upright position on this bike. Getting close to real geezer-hood he's probably doing his back some good with less bending over so much? And disconnecting, rerouting and bleeding hydro brakes along with fishing a shift cable out to change handlebars isn't getting any more attractive vs living-with the current bar/stem. </span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Almost 500 kilometers on it now, including a steep climb and twisty descent - gearing is adequate and assist level 1 seems to compensate for the extra weight of the bike when things get steep. Going down, response is good, no "desert-sled" sluggishness but the fat slicks and disc brakes will take some getting used-to. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">There's still more than 40% of the original battery charge remaining, so the "range-anxiety" expressed by many who obsess over 250 Wh vs 350 battery in the downtube or extra batteries mounted in the 2nd bottle cage makes <i>Zio</i> scratch his head. What kind of rides are these folks thinking about? Is it the old idea where the guy must have a Ford F150 pickup truck for the 2 times each year he has to haul 4 X 8 sheets of plywood vs the 363 other days of the year when it's just him and his lunchbox?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Overall, since the e-gravel-bike offerings with both MAHLE X20 and Campagnolo EKAR were so slim the MV has worked out to be a good choice for this old man. Don't think of an e-bike as "cheating" but rather something to let you tackle rides you might no longer feel up for. If you don't use any (or much) of the e-assist, more power to you! But you know it's there just-in-case, so you can set out worry-free!</div><br /><i style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;"><br /></i></span><p></p>Larry and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346445393389942837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280439984413663643.post-71988050420464521952024-02-27T14:46:00.006+01:002024-03-09T14:05:17.964+01:00Slippery Subject Part 3<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b> More slippin' and slidin</b></span><b style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">'</b></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwG-hKRzo5YIpP_yymeazX5SWqI8y2jKnfiAD3Aj3v1uFGPhIOi5v_PUw8VGMgMdtsPt2uyAQHnvJ-0NARZBIuS9aI9LBLQcvN4cPR28i9naleL6cIDbiwa9fH67apiIQlxztdHw_0RqHAuTSACBvfcpoz0o9qSOUR-RfWkEENWADvIGYrrlkNQs7v6bg/s1010/finishlinewet.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="758" data-original-width="1010" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwG-hKRzo5YIpP_yymeazX5SWqI8y2jKnfiAD3Aj3v1uFGPhIOi5v_PUw8VGMgMdtsPt2uyAQHnvJ-0NARZBIuS9aI9LBLQcvN4cPR28i9naleL6cIDbiwa9fH67apiIQlxztdHw_0RqHAuTSACBvfcpoz0o9qSOUR-RfWkEENWADvIGYrrlkNQs7v6bg/w400-h300/finishlinewet.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Read Part 2 <a href="https://cycleitalia.blogspot.com/2023/09/a-slippery-subject-part-2.html">HERE.</a> Recently a sort of war has broken out on that infamous video channel between the "Friction Fiction" fellow (I use that name because he's been making threats of legal action against his detractors who have called him out by his or his company's name) and a fellow Aussie who has posted some rather crude criticism of the man and his company.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Zio</i> ran afoul of "Friction Fiction" when he emailed to ask why no test results were on his website for Finish Line Wet, a popular chain lube, but the guy's finally managed to post some after first claiming it wasn't popular and that other Finish Line products he tested were NFG, so why bother? Of course the results for this one aren't very good either - no surprise there.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But the fellow <u>did</u> ask for experiences with this lube and since <i>Zio</i>'s used it for years here's one:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><b>Shimano 11-speed chain on GRX equipped gravel bike. Bike used from new with factory grease then periodically relubed with Finish Line Wet. Drivetrain cleaned now and then with a tablespoon or two of common diesel fuel as outlined in various bike wash regimens.</b></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><b>Roughly 50% of this bike's use has been on unpaved, dusty bike trails. Chain gets wiped-off now and then and relubed when it appears dry. A few drops on each side of the rollers while backpedaling to distribute the lube, then excess is wiped off.</b></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><b>The result - after 4200+ kilometers the chain now measures (via KMC digital chain-checker) wear of .15 mm averaged between 3 measurements. KMC says change 'em before wear exceeds .8 mm while Zio will install a new one when it gets to .4 mm.</b></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Why change at .4 mm? The chain costs $30. Why take a chance on wearing the sprockets and cogs out just to squeeze a bit more life out of a cheap, easily replaceable component? Back when <i>Zio</i> maintained a fleet of rental bikes he swapped the chains out at just 2000 kms for the same reason. Just like pro racing teams he wanted to be sure any chain on any bike in the fleet would run happily (no skipping!) on any wheel.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Is <i>Zio </i>a huge fan of this lube? He does like the applicator bottle but wonders if the <i>Mobil 1 SHC 75/90</i> gear oil he's also used for years (but doesn't have any data for) isn't just as good? Another wax-cult guy recently showed some tests of lubricant film-strength and <i>Zio</i> wonders what could be better in film strength than a lube designed for automotive manual transmissions and/or differential gears? But is film strength all that matters?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">What <u>does</u> matter to <i>Zio</i> is that this test chain received pretty much zero care compared to the wax-cult regimen: no solvent cleaning to bare metal, no boiling in a wax cooker purchased just for the purpose, no $50 bags o' wax pellets or $30 squirt bottles of liquid wax for in-between lubes before removing the chain for retreatments. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And no unfastening/refastening of the chain quick-links, which <i>Zio</i> thinks eventually will fail if you do this too many times. Those sell for $3-5 each. It all ads up, so the <i>"Save money by buying my expensive product(s)"</i> claims seem like most of the too-good-to-be true claims out there.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Could <i>Zio</i> realize double or triple the lifespan of this chain via religious and expensive waxing treatments? Maybe. But $90 for three of these chains is less than the solvent, a wax cooker and bag o' snake wax pellets, etc. not to mention the time spent fooling around with all this stuff. He guesses this chain will easily go another 2000 kms before replacement at .4 mm of wear.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">When you make an objective comparison (<i>Zio'</i>s not selling ANYTHING and gets nothing from Finish Line or Mobil) for his money "old school" oil still seems the simplest (and cheapest) way to take care of your chain, despite what the wax-cult zealots would like you to believe.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But feel free to wax away if you like! Chain, legs, mustache, "bikini area" ..whatever. Stay clean, enjoy the miniscule efficiency improvements touted, etc. But don't waste time in recruitment efforts on </span><i style="font-family: arial;">Zio </i><span style="font-family: arial;">to join the cult, OK?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: xx-small;"><i>The Friction fellow also claimed he'd asked Finish Line repeatedly for data to back up their marketing claims for their "WET" lube. But when Zio contacted Finish Line they said the guy had never contacted them. Seems like more marketing of whatever you sell vs stuff you don't with "data" to prove the stuff you sell is the best? </i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: xx-small;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: xx-small;"><i>Zio's gonna try using Mobil 1 on the chain of his new e-bike rather than Finish Line to see how it does in comparison. He might have some useful data in 6 months maybe? If film strength is all that matters the chain wear should be pretty low. Time and distance will tell, but even the exclusive 13 speed chain for this bike costs less than $50 so...</i></span></div><br /><b style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><br /></b><p></p>Larry and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346445393389942837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280439984413663643.post-44179332395142035712024-02-20T15:54:00.005+01:002024-03-09T14:15:21.457+01:00Campagnolo - the future<p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Where have you gone Joe Dimaggio..er..CAMPAGNOLO?</span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivWx1Xl1pmybRAXTaBHQMaJn7ytMEKLGfrS5kCxQumektUcxLpRfUPR-VbarWZAUEy8Zw9KBZD4LlshicJ3RBcTs-Z0EB99vr_VHbNvtPdSdvBo7UkxQ_dWkkm7NdXNjzT3tz19D6fXcCZfJBLh6kW6Zo8VDw2Zc2G2Nn84FwNs2FGEms-xZrUgCTom60/s2944/20240220_144853.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2944" data-original-width="1727" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivWx1Xl1pmybRAXTaBHQMaJn7ytMEKLGfrS5kCxQumektUcxLpRfUPR-VbarWZAUEy8Zw9KBZD4LlshicJ3RBcTs-Z0EB99vr_VHbNvtPdSdvBo7UkxQ_dWkkm7NdXNjzT3tz19D6fXcCZfJBLh6kW6Zo8VDw2Zc2G2Nn84FwNs2FGEms-xZrUgCTom60/w235-h400/20240220_144853.jpg" width="235" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Remember the old "Mrs. Robinson" song? Look closely at the photo above. <i>Zio</i> ordered some "Original Parts" for his new <i>Campagnolo</i> EKAR-equipped e-gravel bike from a reliable and trusted online shop here in Italy so he doesn't think these are counterfeit.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">WTF? As recently as <a href="https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-gear/how-campagnolo-plans-to-stay-relevant-in-a-changing-market/">here</a> (claimed to have been updated less than 6 months ago) the folks in Vincenza were claiming </span><span face="Karla, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: -0.7px; text-align: left;"><i>“We’ve always stayed true to building things in the European Union and 100 percent in-house,” Riddle said. “Nothing’s offshore and nothing is outsourced. Everything apart from circuit boards and batteries for EPS is done in-house.”</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span face="Karla, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: -0.7px; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Not anymore (or even then) it seems. The two designed-for-OEM groupsets mentioned in the story (Centaur** and Potenza) are gone now (and it was rather obvious their brakesets were Taiwanese*) despite working quite well and getting positive reviews but <i>Zio</i> can remember unboxing a set of cantilever brakes for a <i>Campagnolo</i> 'cross group a decade ago and reading "Made in Taiwan" (*seemingly by Tektro) on the package. He wasn't happy about it but figured it was just a few 'cross brakesets so did it really matter?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It matters and the marketing guy quoted in the piece is no longer there either as far as <i>Zio</i> can tell. <i>Tullio Campagnolo</i>'s grandson seems to have taken over after some time at their wheel brand Fulcrum.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Campagnolo</i>'s market position seemed to be aiming at the high end of the market with the exception of their gravel EKAR groupset. But how long will people pay a premium price for "Designed in Italy <span style="font-size: x-small;">Made in Taiwan</span>"? EKAR costs more than a Shimano GRX groupset for example but how much of it is made in Asia like Shimano? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Meanwhile, they just announced EKAR GT, a product of what <i>Zio</i> likes to call the "product cheapening department" (what do companies really call these?) with aluminum rather than carbon crank (something that would have been just fine with <i>Zio</i>!) and some other cost-saving changes, all to offer a gravel groupset at a slightly lower cost.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Zio</i> remembers a carbon fork sold by Columbus back-in-the-day. A bike industry friend told him these forks were actually made in China, shipped to Columbus for stickers and a fancy box and then sold at a premium price to customers who assumed they were made by Columbus in Italy. This same friend said the guy who first told him this story arranged for the friend's company to buy the same forks but put his company's name on 'em instead of Columbus'. The friend stopped buying 'em from Columbus and instead got 'em directly from the maker through this "sales agent". Seems there are lots of these folks around, experts at getting stuff made cheaply in Asia with whatever branding you like on it.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Is <i>Campagnolo</i> destined to be come nothing more than a "designer name" like so many other "luxury goods" that are produced in Asian factories for pennies on the dollar only to end up commanding premium prices when it's time for the retail customer to cough up the cash? Do they care that most of these same products have counterfeit (though ya gotta wonder if they're perhaps cranked out by a midnight "third-shift" at the same sweatshop producing the originals, so how "counterfeit" are they?) versions hawked on side streets of most major cities?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">At the same time some Asian companies are now offering super-cheap groupsets that have no famous "designer" name, so if you're gonna buy Made-in-Taiwan (or mainland China) stuff, would you pay more for an Italian name and "design"?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">If <i>Campagnolo</i>'s sales are decreasing, <i>Zio</i> would point to this as at least part of the cause. But are profits up since production costs are lower? Will <i>Ferrari</i> set up a factory in China next...or have they already? Would people buy "Designed in Maranello, made-in-China" cars?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It works for Pinarello I guess? <i>Zio</i> wonders if some confuse "adrenalina" (andrenalin) with "Made in ___"? He remembers a client one time insisting that Pinarello bikes were still 100% Made-in-Italy, so...?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkX1iLREJnKprEAHpp0b8ctsxHHumT999DztFbdaGi924WJYGhuEZilO5kV4xwA5KMT6YMTtnt8oMPyqpmMNeTjfPF0tr6Xmd9lKN0ElgkuW8p66yNKH8qlDqoc1M9g9xaaqZokWGNj2ngZp0bz2YtMhoMCxl0ga3Z8UsuqxJTvTMiDBTq0V7hrXEtiI4/s300/pinarello-adrenalina-italiana-logo-F6D7898A98-seeklogo.com.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="286" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkX1iLREJnKprEAHpp0b8ctsxHHumT999DztFbdaGi924WJYGhuEZilO5kV4xwA5KMT6YMTtnt8oMPyqpmMNeTjfPF0tr6Xmd9lKN0ElgkuW8p66yNKH8qlDqoc1M9g9xaaqZokWGNj2ngZp0bz2YtMhoMCxl0ga3Z8UsuqxJTvTMiDBTq0V7hrXEtiI4/w191-h200/pinarello-adrenalina-italiana-logo-F6D7898A98-seeklogo.com.png" width="191" /></a></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">** Centaur 11 is back in the lineup though now only in black.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p>Larry and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346445393389942837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280439984413663643.post-79031861353726863772024-02-13T16:51:00.001+01:002024-02-13T16:54:11.559+01:00MV Lucky Explorer E-gravel bike - First Impressions<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b> MV's e-gravel bike- First Impressions</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiay3PDofM2s5tbRaJVYlRtabvYjO9IB2e-sHp8_Vo3dFQvVdyCn_FvGYaG3OrquRaZwCXpvp_7d-9z4YjdS_j8kHc0QbbMf6FEfAV5xJQfdMpuyJY1kmDvOF2MPcS4loyraTZNXSzdCM8txbP2d1vnYDpsyrGC38qh_y2iGIHrpV6siT2bW9l1iY5bpbk/s2992/20240208_162809.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2992" data-original-width="2992" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiay3PDofM2s5tbRaJVYlRtabvYjO9IB2e-sHp8_Vo3dFQvVdyCn_FvGYaG3OrquRaZwCXpvp_7d-9z4YjdS_j8kHc0QbbMf6FEfAV5xJQfdMpuyJY1kmDvOF2MPcS4loyraTZNXSzdCM8txbP2d1vnYDpsyrGC38qh_y2iGIHrpV6siT2bW9l1iY5bpbk/w400-h400/20240208_162809.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;">The bike (finally) arrived! <i>Zio</i> quickly got it ready to ride, swapping out tires, bolting on water bottle cages, etc.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu2sdKkvPY0S8G5ivJv_W5ckFhky7N48ulm9pbNET0jlQBtGswifH_WLnmlayCVMHHD5loVWOqRAYkJUxD2vlKU_ypq_GanSxhTiPuojwAYNjmdHOmVI533Wyj7qS8X2KQRLYLqnnaKeoun58JVxQmWPJc5RR8AWGKFy_cb-etPpXgADUub273QsHFSCE/s2992/20240208_162841.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2992" data-original-width="2992" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu2sdKkvPY0S8G5ivJv_W5ckFhky7N48ulm9pbNET0jlQBtGswifH_WLnmlayCVMHHD5loVWOqRAYkJUxD2vlKU_ypq_GanSxhTiPuojwAYNjmdHOmVI533Wyj7qS8X2KQRLYLqnnaKeoun58JVxQmWPJc5RR8AWGKFy_cb-etPpXgADUub273QsHFSCE/s320/20240208_162841.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;">You can see how small the rear hub motor is - total system weight is 3.2 kg, (around 7 lbs) making this bike about the same weight as his un-motorized ancient MTB turned into SuperMonsterGravel.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1XPIKm6H0oi-EaV-zdPylNSKRbl2t-IdbHc5d-oWZuNyZN6qP7SF1toHXFz5ANjHRCtdwv_Zvn-BBNId3pF6JpTxo_v6PpbPSCnBPpHpmRZSsUAGohZv7biJLM_AxSzwGcfjJ3gCig5Cz_iRl4TuRh2h_PxPNCHzyn4sMPYxxdGbAJA3jYciSGyiR1Ks/s2992/20240208_162833.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2992" data-original-width="2992" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1XPIKm6H0oi-EaV-zdPylNSKRbl2t-IdbHc5d-oWZuNyZN6qP7SF1toHXFz5ANjHRCtdwv_Zvn-BBNId3pF6JpTxo_v6PpbPSCnBPpHpmRZSsUAGohZv7biJLM_AxSzwGcfjJ3gCig5Cz_iRl4TuRh2h_PxPNCHzyn4sMPYxxdGbAJA3jYciSGyiR1Ks/s320/20240208_162833.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;">Control button on the top tube with <i>Homer Simpson</i> as Superman just below. This bike also has tiny buttons near the brake hoods to shift assist-levels up or down rather than pushing the top tube button.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4oz_slRXsgBxEzPCDsh9H_86VzGK8W1EMEIBN34JJSdnL2wfJ80SLZNnacSd1DC-Wz-NYLRWYAqz4FmKlgSQZWDb7RcNhk0L4W6VHod1tqPQmT6_FsOhfxKylvX3xbDPyOtXwv1NfY_2VT306uCm26hRpH8CL5_y7IPd5fzLHJ1mB7wK1Wa51ea4jlE/s2132/20240208_121554.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1376" data-original-width="2132" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4oz_slRXsgBxEzPCDsh9H_86VzGK8W1EMEIBN34JJSdnL2wfJ80SLZNnacSd1DC-Wz-NYLRWYAqz4FmKlgSQZWDb7RcNhk0L4W6VHod1tqPQmT6_FsOhfxKylvX3xbDPyOtXwv1NfY_2VT306uCm26hRpH8CL5_y7IPd5fzLHJ1mB7wK1Wa51ea4jlE/s320/20240208_121554.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;">A nice surprise! <i>Zio</i> has a Torelli 20th Anniversary bike that's #70/100 so "Homer" is in good company.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH8Na58qaL4owZZYNeziLT-DnwN_r5BcTGqR538TPzhR0uOnQPjbf-UPRZhhHqqYXh4jqQxbi4Vt9pxl_ASPu8-kCBj3-HSe39oqshU8AY4Yg2kqyQU-OGa6JW2hntkOB6Gxbth3pab6TfsBLUk3dC4IXik7ZKdlUE2_iZnB84H3Og1jmS1_cbzWRL6Bs/s2460/20240208_121518.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1372" data-original-width="2460" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH8Na58qaL4owZZYNeziLT-DnwN_r5BcTGqR538TPzhR0uOnQPjbf-UPRZhhHqqYXh4jqQxbi4Vt9pxl_ASPu8-kCBj3-HSe39oqshU8AY4Yg2kqyQU-OGa6JW2hntkOB6Gxbth3pab6TfsBLUk3dC4IXik7ZKdlUE2_iZnB84H3Og1jmS1_cbzWRL6Bs/s320/20240208_121518.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;">Another nice surprise - Made-in-Italy, though <i>Zio</i> doesn't know who actually makes the frames for MV. The bikes are assembled and shipped from Varese, MVAgusta's home from the start. MV comes from <i>Meccanica Verghera</i> and the founder <i>Giovanni Agusta</i>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><i>Zio</i> bought this bike not really needing an e-bike right away, but more as a way to get used to playing with one before it WILL be needed. He thinks of it as sort of an electronic "granny ring" on a triple crank...always there but nobody says ya gotta use it...at least if the bike is fun to ride without the e-assist.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;">This one is! Ready-to-ride it's under 30 lbs and with the motor off or in the 0 assist mode, rides just like a normal bike. <i>Zio</i>'s put 100 kms on it so far and really likes the fat 38 mm <i><a href="https://www.renehersecycles.com/product-category/components/tires/">Rene Herse</a></i> slicks he mounted to replace the 45 mm gravel tires it came with. The 50+ mm slicks on SuperGravelMonster are great while Heather likes the 38's on her Bianchi gravel bike. We don't plan to ride the kind of gravel that requires knobby tires,</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;">So far <i>Zio</i>'s only cranked the motor up (Level 1 assist) one time - going into a stiff headwind on the bike trail. Otherwise he's ridden it "acoustically" and is pretty happy with how it goes, stops and turns. You can watch a good review of the Campagnolo EKAR component group <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a28-cW9puSY&t=57s">HERE.</a> Zio's </i>not doing any video, who wants to look at or listen to him?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;">MAHLE's X20 assist system has some reviews online though since the MV's not sold in the USA, <a href="https://velo.outsideonline.com/ebike/2023-orbea-gain-e-road-bike-first-ride-review/">this one about it</a> on another brand of bike still applies.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;">The bike itself? <i>Zio </i>bought this despite the branding. <i>MVAgusta</i> is great but the reference is to the <span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">Dakar factory motorcycles based on the Cagiva Elephant, which were sponsored by the cigarette brand Lucky Strike in the 1990s. Why? He wanted Campagnolo EKAR and MAHLE X20 and this was pretty much the only choice. He'll cover-up the logos and maybe slap-on some <i>MVAgusta</i> stickers eventually.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">The frame geometry charts suggested this wouldn't be a slow-steering "desert sled" despite the name and riding it is proof. Frame sizing was a challenge as <i>Zio</i> seems to be smack-dab in-between both MV's and Bianchi's size ranges. He's almost too tall for the S size and too short for M, but just like the Bianchi, settled on M. 50 cm center-to-center on the seat tube is good while the top tube measures 53 cm. A rather short 8 cm stem connects to the carbon handlebar with all the hoses/cables routed internally.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">All this means the fit is OK. The size S would for sure require a longer stem and with hoses/cables routed internally would have been a real pain to swap-out. As-is the M's a little short and upright while the bars are a bit wide but once he rewrapped the tape to cover more of the tops (and stuck some foam padding into the curiously depressed sections) things seem OK.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">A straight top tube means a frame pump will fit! WOOHOO! Bottle cages are mounted low, another plus. Seatpost is round with an alloy clamp, both big plus factors in <i>Zio</i>'s mind. Frame-build quality looks good too, I wonder who actually makes them?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">What doesn't he like? The flat paint finish isn't a plus but what can ya do...it's the rage these days. We've already covered the logo issues. For this kind of money <i>Zio</i> wishes they'd plugged the bazillion threaded holes in the frame/fork (so you can bolt-on bikepacking stuff) with some snap-in things to keep dirt out of the threads and water out of the frame and sprung for better quality inner tubes than the rather thick CS ones. But they probably figure buyers are gonna yank 'em out and go tubeless with the no-name carbon tubeless-ready rims anyway? The 40 mm rims are deeper than <i>Zio</i> would like but they don't seem too bad in cross-winds so far.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">100 kms over 3 rides and <i>Zio</i>'s pretty happy. He can see this being his "do it all" bike even without the motor assist. He splurged for a MAHLE head-unit rather than slapping-on a Cateye cyclometer. This reads the bike's stats along with the usual speed, distance, etc. and includes a "range" feature - how far you can ride on the current battery charge?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">With the assist level at 0 but the bike turned ON, the range numbers actually go backwards - as in higher rather than lower. A 2 hour ride today used 1% of the battery while the range-counter topped-out at 999 kms. On his first ride, when he switched to level 1 the range dropped to under 400 before he switched back to 0.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">Next up, a ride with a real climb, one where Heather usually has to wait for him on her MAHLE X35 powered bike programmed to assist when her heart rate reaches a preset level. Will Level 1 be enough? If not, there's 2 or 3!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRfzIDJGw57TzpbrPZuEjJGo_tXCEqhY-lImwO-6IWGeYgNizqjmP30yKHNi1v0ZNxUkiXD9O3173etWtOi0UI2yPe1_bF0c7w9kkknKme08_LQgTAw9gm5vRnegFp8AoL_PAEt0OlmWyLv63lHWRHcqf6Xmdu-mwWmM7WInZu5R6dyjbZMIlClC0Yckk/s2278/20240209_122920.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1975" data-original-width="2278" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRfzIDJGw57TzpbrPZuEjJGo_tXCEqhY-lImwO-6IWGeYgNizqjmP30yKHNi1v0ZNxUkiXD9O3173etWtOi0UI2yPe1_bF0c7w9kkknKme08_LQgTAw9gm5vRnegFp8AoL_PAEt0OlmWyLv63lHWRHcqf6Xmdu-mwWmM7WInZu5R6dyjbZMIlClC0Yckk/s320/20240209_122920.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><b style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></b></span><p></p>Larry and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346445393389942837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280439984413663643.post-41427257787862003672024-02-07T15:51:00.001+01:002024-02-10T12:13:59.397+01:00Bike Weight Part ?<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b> How much does your bike weigh?</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5sXT3FStG0G2oj0qSeAJXNAEjWk08WbGghQyoMEgAak3TDI5siabbhzc6Y-5-gms1aHOGb2vn_DmvahkhgpB2YjsFKJC0l0cFOh64rl8XFuBxiZITmg8EQlAOL_AdG5v7vdZPGDHdHyr0umZWl6LSjdAG_bLCnfjQssL9pVMcleu6IBw90q_lmsveL1o/s500/cballweights.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="500" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5sXT3FStG0G2oj0qSeAJXNAEjWk08WbGghQyoMEgAak3TDI5siabbhzc6Y-5-gms1aHOGb2vn_DmvahkhgpB2YjsFKJC0l0cFOh64rl8XFuBxiZITmg8EQlAOL_AdG5v7vdZPGDHdHyr0umZWl6LSjdAG_bLCnfjQssL9pVMcleu6IBw90q_lmsveL1o/w400-h276/cballweights.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Remember <a href="https://thelastkilometer.wordpress.com/2013/08/">this</a>?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The UCI requires bicycles used in competition to weigh at least 6.8 kg (more-or-less 15 lbs) but a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nXACVQmfoU">recent look </a>at the bikes used by pro teams showed wide variations.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">None of 'em weighed just 6.8 kg! Not one. The lightest was 6.98 kg while the heaviest was a whopping 7.7 kg.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">WTF? What happened to all the hype about how a light bike makes such a huge difference in performance? Not that long ago it was lightweight this or lightweight that, marginal gains, saving a gram here or there touted as the key to victory.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">What happened? <i>Zio</i> will reply with two words - disc brakes. But that doesn't explain why one World Tour team's machines weigh a pound and a half more than another's while the riders don't seem to care and it doesn't seem relevant to who wins.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Have they realized that 700 grams (1.5 lbs) really doesn't make that much difference?</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></b></span><p></p>Larry and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346445393389942837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280439984413663643.post-13581752146960606172024-01-26T14:06:00.008+01:002024-02-05T11:45:59.855+01:00MV-Agusta Lucky Explorer<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPKSLdZ_Gi7WHeh-IAGVwiAG1SzNEy1UgVvq6znKnDHtDyWlP1hblXVutuXZFh_9jBkEvk36_Mqvge8E81L2oLqwCxp2BoOGhWzHBwSaezHl4YMN2B9SYrQZ-UtSViGR4-8qXCCe235fc4RnlqYhj2FGZaV3vDJjXlh5P9jeifXsDyX3GrtmflGH9VpMw/s823/lucky-explorer-gravel--satin-pearl-white--2.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="395" data-original-width="823" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPKSLdZ_Gi7WHeh-IAGVwiAG1SzNEy1UgVvq6znKnDHtDyWlP1hblXVutuXZFh_9jBkEvk36_Mqvge8E81L2oLqwCxp2BoOGhWzHBwSaezHl4YMN2B9SYrQZ-UtSViGR4-8qXCCe235fc4RnlqYhj2FGZaV3vDJjXlh5P9jeifXsDyX3GrtmflGH9VpMw/w400-h193/lucky-explorer-gravel--satin-pearl-white--2.webp" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>GO ELECTRIC!</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That's what the electric toothbrush advertisements say and we caved-in to our dentist's pleas awhile ago.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Heather <a href="https://cycleitalia.blogspot.com/2022/05/gravelicious.html">went electric awhile ago</a> with bicycles as well and <i>Zio</i> scored a used <a href="https://www.bianchi.com/store/it_IT/yrbm6-e-impulso-gravel-grx-600-1x11sp-7.html">Bianchi E-Impulso Allroad </a>at a good price in Piedmont at the end of last summer, but this brand-new one's on the way to Sicily for <i>Zio</i> to play with.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">He wanted to try the newer MAHLE X20 electric motor* and also wanted a <a href="https://www.campagnolo.com/us-en/ekar/"><i>Campagnolo</i> EKAR</a> groupset for what's soon gonna be his only bike in Sicily other than the <i>Bianchi</i> for shopping and the other <i>Bianchi</i> for vintage rides. <i>Zio</i> hates to part with some of our beloved steel bikes, but we don't have enough room on the ground floor for a bike museum, so some of the old ones have to go! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For a new e-bike there wasn't a lot to choose from matching <i>Zio</i>'s requirements for a gravel bike with MAHLE X20 and Campagnolo EKAR but when a shop in Rome put <a href="https://emvagusta.com/pages/lucky-explorer">MV's Lucky Explorer</a> on-sale, out came the credit card!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">More when (if?) the new bike arrives**.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: xx-small;">*Regular readers may remember we planned/hoped to get <i>Favaloro</i> to make us custom e-bikes, but it seemed he was just too busy after that Italian TV spot showed what he could do.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: xx-small;">**After a lot of back-and-forth with the dealer in Rome it looks like the bike will finally arrive February 8th. Far longer than the 5-6 days from payment they claimed, but a price more than 1000 euros off MV's listed price is worth it I guess? Turns out the shop doesn't even stock these bikes, despite what they said before <i>Zio</i> handed-over the euros. Seems like they get drop-shipped directly from MV, so it's coming from much farther north than Rome.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>Larry and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346445393389942837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280439984413663643.post-9872241404627908482024-01-14T09:34:00.003+01:002024-01-26T13:58:25.851+01:00Marco Pantani<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> <b><i>Marco Pantani</i></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtUui_mi8lJEhG0xx8RyBSBy8YDP_nBUjXHSM3Fh_PyHD18kwZaNhsKFDJAF6JAU4h4wdFnvVY-urniEQF9JMRwo58TtxB8xaS2FWhFhEQAmJ6M2jPD7w44aHskz0S5ctmXCn5oqhV57VO6TGOs8WR-QVGMPnW0pjNd8doFQKMANFo_sG47LhIQF3tMms/s2953/20240107_130933.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2953" data-original-width="1653" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtUui_mi8lJEhG0xx8RyBSBy8YDP_nBUjXHSM3Fh_PyHD18kwZaNhsKFDJAF6JAU4h4wdFnvVY-urniEQF9JMRwo58TtxB8xaS2FWhFhEQAmJ6M2jPD7w44aHskz0S5ctmXCn5oqhV57VO6TGOs8WR-QVGMPnW0pjNd8doFQKMANFo_sG47LhIQF3tMms/w224-h400/20240107_130933.jpg" width="224" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>"Il Pirata"</i> would have been 54 years old yesterday. He and <i>Fausto Coppi</i> are probably the most revered cyclists in Italy.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Why? An early death under tragic circumstances explains part of it but <i>Zio</i> likes to think it's a lot more than this and their racing records.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Both men overcame injuries and other obstacles to win and win again - something that can't be explained away as a product of doping.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Both men endured scandals, but overcame those too and both were revered by former teammates for their generosity.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Books in English about them are more rare than they should be. Matt Rendell's "The Death of Marco Pantani" is still available as is Manuela Ronchi's "Man on the Run: The Life and Death of Marco Pantani. <i>Zio</i> thinks both should be read to get a balanced take on <i>The Pirate</i>.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">William Fotheringham's "Fallen Angel: The Passion of Fausto Coppi" does a pretty good job of describing <i>Il Campionissimo. </i>Sadly, most of the other books about Coppi <i>Zio</i> likes are no longer in print, his favorite being Herbie Sykes' "Coppi: Inside the Legend of the Campionissimo".</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_QgNlLWqSGKQTzNqmq2BY1chooA2wW6Ot6E7TCux3XblV_FoWE8csbLyq3P1Oo9DT48-U-lsGYS6RzkPnf95ezOQTU0d2oa2wNOKiI3K08h0w-plLIT5NOKmYhvRB24rMmWvtp0hhe4MDx8pIs2yj6R0xmInvNmc0isdnoyhI5fBPh9qlk_SNrJKPTJY/s2721/20240107_130913.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2721" data-original-width="1589" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_QgNlLWqSGKQTzNqmq2BY1chooA2wW6Ot6E7TCux3XblV_FoWE8csbLyq3P1Oo9DT48-U-lsGYS6RzkPnf95ezOQTU0d2oa2wNOKiI3K08h0w-plLIT5NOKmYhvRB24rMmWvtp0hhe4MDx8pIs2yj6R0xmInvNmc0isdnoyhI5fBPh9qlk_SNrJKPTJY/w234-h400/20240107_130913.jpg" width="234" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p>Larry and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346445393389942837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280439984413663643.post-21159718642500568752024-01-08T12:45:00.005+01:002024-01-10T13:33:29.606+01:00Winter Reading<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b> Winter Reading</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheNhElld0DGb7Ky7w9-GsOoxDjEXXiYQq6fFrhIDjTGMNhPiq38GcA7ezK_Y5z_NghCz35hiyJKUyfcQ626uOe1_ix_4mSppvpflQCgusc_kFkD2lZv1LsdCV1KxIHfTTLwDnBTIKWkh3Gm8zJRPLtbDe65e2noKGi0Ct915-jPhEwkpeYZXgNFvMRT28/s800/backyardsnowapril2014-SNOW.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheNhElld0DGb7Ky7w9-GsOoxDjEXXiYQq6fFrhIDjTGMNhPiq38GcA7ezK_Y5z_NghCz35hiyJKUyfcQ626uOe1_ix_4mSppvpflQCgusc_kFkD2lZv1LsdCV1KxIHfTTLwDnBTIKWkh3Gm8zJRPLtbDe65e2noKGi0Ct915-jPhEwkpeYZXgNFvMRT28/s320/backyardsnowapril2014-SNOW.gif" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Glad we don't have this anymore!</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We're really happy the only frozen water we deal with now is the ice in our <i>Aperol Spritz </i>instead of our frozen backyard in Iowa but if you're looking for good reading this winter, take a look <a href="https://www.prendas.co.uk/blogs/news/tagged/herbie-sykes">HERE</a>. His Alfa-Lum team story is really funny!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Zio Lorenzo</i> really likes the work of <i>Herbie Sykes</i>. If you like his work on that website you'll probably enjoy his books, though some of them can be hard to find.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Zio</i>'s reviews of a couple of them can be found <a href="https://cycleitalia.blogspot.com/2020/12/book-review-giro-100.html">HERE</a>, and <a href="https://cycleitalia.blogspot.com/2013/08/book-review-coppi-inside-legend-of.html">HERE</a>. He's going to contact <i>Sykes</i> directly for details on finding his books, so check back later*.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">*Sykes says most of his books are now out-of-print so suggests AbeBooks or Ebay to buy copies. Sad, but true.</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></b></span><p></p>Larry and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346445393389942837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280439984413663643.post-45970882482852672082024-01-04T11:27:00.001+01:002024-01-04T11:27:16.748+01:00A Nice Surprise!<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> Cycling like it once was...</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik7kK7TDtZ-uyTKzRQZ4RodhPeIK9DlcJL3QkXyQP1nU3rAI6w0LDmkzRB-tvGed6UjAMrWQ7RyS29CtVjtp1R4ID2qR4VLpCMEvlJx3R9eSR-BzH4CASTK9nn9rFmecH4xsnDEe84M62qadAjIVOzokxDPZTgetCqu6FRMlxhdS6AE_pjM9slrzG4JyQ/s2802/20240104_111450.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2802" data-original-width="2161" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik7kK7TDtZ-uyTKzRQZ4RodhPeIK9DlcJL3QkXyQP1nU3rAI6w0LDmkzRB-tvGed6UjAMrWQ7RyS29CtVjtp1R4ID2qR4VLpCMEvlJx3R9eSR-BzH4CASTK9nn9rFmecH4xsnDEe84M62qadAjIVOzokxDPZTgetCqu6FRMlxhdS6AE_pjM9slrzG4JyQ/w309-h400/20240104_111450.jpg" width="309" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And still is, at least if you're into vintage bicycles like we are. Our second favorite magazine's latest issue (see photo) came the other day along with the announcement they finally have a <a href="https://biciclettedepoca.net/rivista/">website!</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Now you can read it in your choice of language at no charge. How great is that? We'll still pay the money for the print copies even though not much in 'em is news, but you'll have to wait awhile to see 'em online.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But what's not to like? We're excited already about <i><a href="https://www.labarocca.org/">La Barocca</a></i>. May will be here before we know it. Heather's <i>DeRosa</i> is ready-to-ride while <i>Zio</i> needs to check over his <i>epoca</i> <i>Bianchi</i> as well as dig out the wool jersey and shorts while there's still time to do something if the moths have eaten them.</span></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p>Larry and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346445393389942837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280439984413663643.post-60805530197026448812023-12-25T15:04:00.007+01:002023-12-25T15:04:47.592+01:00Buon Natale 2023<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><b> Buon Natale 2023</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: times; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigjy7R-1XC-bQPzWVJTgkz09-yQ8JPHjzwyVe4ujJOSDrJ9M-AzhGcxAoFawC4ZS554lAZn9mO1x6Nfn4rHR9bQGp5uQZ3Rc3AETzvNoC5YUit5XeuWY6tg4a08BrQFrdtBPx4n2HvyWwKcOQJpuHSZgfiziVJGY6YPbntopPjO4wv6MCltRgFNLqcpp0/s2789/20231225_144846.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2789" data-original-width="1770" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigjy7R-1XC-bQPzWVJTgkz09-yQ8JPHjzwyVe4ujJOSDrJ9M-AzhGcxAoFawC4ZS554lAZn9mO1x6Nfn4rHR9bQGp5uQZ3Rc3AETzvNoC5YUit5XeuWY6tg4a08BrQFrdtBPx4n2HvyWwKcOQJpuHSZgfiziVJGY6YPbntopPjO4wv6MCltRgFNLqcpp0/w254-h400/20231225_144846.jpg" width="254" /></a></div><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://www.donnafugata.it/usa/en/product/tancredi-dolcegabbana-and-donnafugata/">This </a>should be good with a holiday meal, no? Some roasted red peppers to start, followed by a <i>zucchini zuppa</i> with fresh croutons and extra-virgin olive oil drizzled on top? Then a grilled pork chop since the sun's out and the grill is ready on the terrace.</span><p></p><p style="text-align: center;">Buon Appetito!</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: times; font-size: x-large;"><br /></b></p>Larry and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346445393389942837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280439984413663643.post-3513759120216728362023-12-22T13:33:00.005+01:002023-12-22T13:35:40.037+01:00Happy Holidays 2023<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b><i>Happy Holidays 2023!</i></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-RwOjcrtc-g" width="320" youtube-src-id="-RwOjcrtc-g"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This gift arrived this morning! We liked it so much we couldn't resist trying to share it with all of you <i>Zio</i> <i>Lorenzo</i> hopes you can play it - full screen and full volume.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Enjoy!!!!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Grazie mille, Aldo & Marco!!!</i></div><br /> <p></p>Larry and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346445393389942837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280439984413663643.post-50098115700587031282023-12-04T15:41:00.006+01:002023-12-09T12:36:39.723+01:00Award Time?<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b> The Biggest POS in the Sport Awards</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC_hCgwefLi9pphbi2bN41MiSJMdr5VdqahrqpFEvzEiWCOX6eljW2b-nqs6vmFL9K8u0EEmmXe-5XLSsOx7ReMeQjuhXNQD5-ix0Q7eEShm0lCbF4kJiY0nrtzabhlB8ENPekqtS1McjvGUa89QpW4qbeBV5QbQY6r0Our9-M_WHu-NtLyCBYmgcVhEc/s742/tex.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="495" data-original-width="742" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC_hCgwefLi9pphbi2bN41MiSJMdr5VdqahrqpFEvzEiWCOX6eljW2b-nqs6vmFL9K8u0EEmmXe-5XLSsOx7ReMeQjuhXNQD5-ix0Q7eEShm0lCbF4kJiY0nrtzabhlB8ENPekqtS1McjvGUa89QpW4qbeBV5QbQY6r0Our9-M_WHu-NtLyCBYmgcVhEc/s320/tex.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image stolen from<a href="https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling/lance-armstrong-jan-ullrich-marco-pantani-and-myself-were-treated-differently-this-is-the-price-to-pay-when-you-are-the-best-in-a-sport"> here</a></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Another WTF, sadly. <i>Jan Ullrich</i> is the subject of a new docuseries where <i>Zio</i> assumes (based on other reports online and on TV) he admits to doping during his career.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Zio</i> read and enjoyed <a href="https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/daniel-friebe/jan-ullrich/9781509801589">"The Best There Never Was"</a> so there was no surprise when <i>"Kaiser Jan"</i> admitted his sins as part of this docu-series. But when BigTex, the narcissitic sociopath (not surprisingly) had to weigh in it's time to call Tex out.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The nerve of this guy rivals a certain US 2024 presidential candidate. He puts himself on the same level as <i>"Kaiser Jan"</i> and <i>"Il Pirata"</i> - two racers who demonstrated remarkable abilities long before there was any suggestion they were involved in the use of illicit substances, while Tex was alleged to be on-the-juice when still a teenaged tri-jock! Further, <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1821244-greg-lemond-claims-lance-armstrong-wouldnt-have-been-top-cyclist-without-peds">some say</a> Tex's physical attributes can not explain his success - without doping.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Then, to make it worse Tex said: <i>"<span style="background-color: white; color: #343a40; text-align: left;">This is the price to pay when you are the best in a sport, you are a symbol. It took me ten years of struggle to get out of that hole."</span></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #343a40; text-align: left;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #343a40; text-align: left;">As Tony Soprano's mother used to say, <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=soprano%27s+poor+you&oq=soprano%27s+poor+you&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTILCAEQABgNGBMYgAQyCwgCEAAYDRgTGIAEMgoIAxAAGBMYFhgeMgoIBBAAGBMYFhgeMgoIBRAAGBMYFhgeMgoIBhAAGBMYFhgeMgoIBxAAGBMYFhge0gEJMTI2NDJqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:c6b1969f,vid:rMaSh20qBbg,st:0">"Poor you!"</a> One of these people is dead, while the other has struggled with plenty of problems and as far as <i>Zio</i> knows, is far from rich. Meanwhile, Tex seems to have more money than he knows what to do with, but still struggles with narcissistic sociopathy. Does this sound like Tex to you:</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #343a40; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; letter-spacing: 0.5px; text-align: start;"><i>Narcissistic sociopaths seek to ingratiate themselves with power, money, pleasure, and other niceties and do so at the expense of others. They might lie, cheat, steal, and manipulate to get their way, and disregard other people’s feelings, needs, wants, and even safety to achieve their goals.*</i></span></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><p style="text-align: center;">Sounds like BigTex to <i>Zio!</i> He thinks this punk should be ignored whenever and wherever possible and hopes that perhaps one day he might get the psychiatric help he so badly needs even though it didn't work out so well for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rerM3wbdnYs">Tony Soprano</a>, but for 2023 he gets the blog's POS award!!!</p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">*sounds a lot like that 2024 candidate for US President too, no?</span></p><b style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></b></span><p></p>Larry and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346445393389942837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280439984413663643.post-11568826600932995992023-11-21T11:50:00.009+01:002024-01-09T12:28:39.116+01:00Another WTF?<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b> Another in the WTF? series</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/during-a-time-trial-i-am-basically-blind-stefan-kung-on-his-horrific-time-trial-crash/">This</a>. WTF?</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Really? The UCI lets this go on? Guy racing at speed on a twitchy chrono bike depending on a man in the follow-car's guidance via his radio earpiece?</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Zio</i>'s been ranting against various electronic gizmos pretty much since the Motorola team introduced the team radio to the pro peloton years ago. Things have only gotten worse with touchscreen gizmos mounted on the handlebar stem to provide all kinds of data to the rider: heart rate, power output, GPS-mapping of the route and gawd-knows what else?</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Zio</i> is concerned about how dull racing can be with riders looking at these gizmos instead of where they are going, not to mention being directed by instructions through their radio earpiece, something noted in a recent issue of <i>Bicisport</i> magazine feature on <i>Giuseppe Saronni</i> who laments these things turning riders into marionettes.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But is <i>Zio</i> the only one that thinks these things are <b>dangerous</b> rather than just mostly useless "tech" for "tech"s sake? Kung's crash is one thing, then there was <a href="https://ground.news/article/filippo-zana-and-the-terrible-crash-at-the-tour-of-slovenia-my-mistake-i-trusted-the-bike-computer-i-wanted-to-dedicate-the-victory-to-gino-mader">this.</a> And Zana mentions <a href="https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/gino-mader-dies-after-tour-de-suisse-crash/">Gino Mader</a> who similarly missed a turn and crashed, losing his life in the process?</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We'll never know if poor Gino was doing the same thing as Zana, but will it take another incident like these to make the UCI seriously consider banning these things? How do they make bike racing better or more exciting to watch?</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Riders do a lot of talking about their safety and how nobody is looking out for them. How seriously do they expect their complaints to be received when they do things like these, putting their own lives in danger?</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Update: Kung says UCI should "do something" Read it <a href="https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/does-pro-cycling-have-a-time-trial-safety-problem/">HERE</a>. <i>Zio</i> thinks the answer is simply to do away with these silly, mostly useless bikes, but what does he know?</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p>Larry and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346445393389942837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280439984413663643.post-19958412624893975372023-11-15T16:12:00.000+01:002023-11-15T16:12:01.042+01:00"Winter" in Sicily<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b> Another day in paradise</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiLaDGuJpmC-XtvjPZpCKpqjc1WFTsIN8Y3rJ7DkjgTIajkp8Tv2-W547vSS-Zbl3c9u5nEZF62Kumr2QqJgDviZZzlTsi9Wv8OTO0ivLi4uhMMOe7Y3R2GgEONHGxGUswIae_c_tBXy05NV00UfF2VirROlOF0FEcrI3tZn5DiskvKGqTXcUSTxxYHcU/s2183/20231115_112014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2183" data-original-width="1469" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiLaDGuJpmC-XtvjPZpCKpqjc1WFTsIN8Y3rJ7DkjgTIajkp8Tv2-W547vSS-Zbl3c9u5nEZF62Kumr2QqJgDviZZzlTsi9Wv8OTO0ivLi4uhMMOe7Y3R2GgEONHGxGUswIae_c_tBXy05NV00UfF2VirROlOF0FEcrI3tZn5DiskvKGqTXcUSTxxYHcU/w269-h400/20231115_112014.jpg" width="269" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Fat guy poses in front of Etna</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Apologies (as usual) if you're freezing your a__ off somewhere cold and snowy. We're not.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Zio</i> loves this time of year when it cools off (but we're still in shorts and short sleeves, though he's switched the closet over so warm-weather stuff isn't the main thing) the <i>vino novello</i> arrives, along with the new olive oil and new oranges.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The photo is from our local bike trail where the view of Etna is rarely this clear. The smog of Catania usually covers the lower slopes while clouds (or smoke from the volcano) covers the higher parts.</span></div><p></p><p><br /></p>Larry and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346445393389942837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280439984413663643.post-31103178213759371062023-11-08T11:17:00.005+01:002023-11-08T11:33:54.150+01:00Good News in the world of cycling!<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b style="font-size: x-large;"> And now for something you'll really like...</b></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: xx-small;">as</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ltosJkoY2g"> Rocket J. Squirrel</a> would say.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Well, at least <i>Zio</i> likes it. First is news that clothing brand RAPHA, dreamed up by marketing-mavens who wanted to make the profits of companies like ASSOS without a shred of their history or heritage (so they just made it all up) is losing millions. Did the marketing-maven-mojo die? More on that <a href="https://road.cc/content/news/rapha-announces-loss-ps106-million-304903">HERE.</a></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCo0zivL4GKzhG2fctJdcfIW4dxYMSCjDBIHXbay3ntM8J0ldEqUPnm_Uhn7zOC7nTfTF5A_APGfCDqg5gmU7HwSJR93u3QPywwfVAyqN_qWyAR2-ERjeCCvzdy71Dg6Ikvu_a3rYNVDr7A-Gr75gJLAjbn_htjUILSYQGPNRbDYONJ_H0C6-eLoVDMjk/s500/cinelli_0.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="331" data-original-width="500" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCo0zivL4GKzhG2fctJdcfIW4dxYMSCjDBIHXbay3ntM8J0ldEqUPnm_Uhn7zOC7nTfTF5A_APGfCDqg5gmU7HwSJR93u3QPywwfVAyqN_qWyAR2-ERjeCCvzdy71Dg6Ikvu_a3rYNVDr7A-Gr75gJLAjbn_htjUILSYQGPNRbDYONJ_H0C6-eLoVDMjk/s320/cinelli_0.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Even better news is that <i>Cinelli</i> is making bicycles in Italy again! Not made with lugs but at least <i>Made-in-Italy</i> with the famous <i>Columbus </i>steel tubing. More on that <a href="https://www.cinelli-milano.com/collections/nemo-gravel">HERE</a> including a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URRcMgIIvtY">video</a> that made <i>Zio</i> smile.</span></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Larry and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346445393389942837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280439984413663643.post-16365194803435944572023-11-05T11:33:00.003+01:002023-11-06T12:54:49.963+01:00Time to hang up the wheels?<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b><i> Time to hang up the wheels?</i></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">No, not us! We'll just ride e-bikes. Perhaps <a href="https://www.stickybottle.com/latest-news/froome-changes-bike-positions-by-centimetres-after-oversight-caused-errors/">this guy?</a> As our friend at <a href="https://www.bikeraceinfo.com/">BikeRaceInfo</a>, "Chairman Bill" McGann likes to say, <i>"There's so far no cure for the common birthday"</i>, yet the former top pro in the linked story constantly blames his equipment for his huge decline as a competitive bike racer.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">He does it <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpdeJO4ykQg">here</a>, <a href="https://road.cc/content/news/froome-blames-equipment-after-being-left-tour-de-france-302085">here</a> and <a href="https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling/chris-froome-blames-disc-brakes-for-tour-du-rwanda-failure">here</a>, just to point out a few times. And currently the blame goes to an error made setting up the new bikes provided by his team...3 years ago?</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe_V2tq0aZcjmr6AlUyGR6W6cGlfQ2kyq8oVfdOtjvTdn-bYASJgLOU-77z22N0S985GAoqWMer2VZ-PJQlBWZNdyhaBhbyVO-_BpP0VJp6lR8BxU95kN0q_8Oz8-JiLVODVLTtWyb3GvEgP6QElZSDk3y_L5XIkyKhZwnJX7yaqYXMrDjWIP3el52jZ8/s2810/P_20190601_091901_vHDR_On.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2340" data-original-width="2810" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe_V2tq0aZcjmr6AlUyGR6W6cGlfQ2kyq8oVfdOtjvTdn-bYASJgLOU-77z22N0S985GAoqWMer2VZ-PJQlBWZNdyhaBhbyVO-_BpP0VJp6lR8BxU95kN0q_8Oz8-JiLVODVLTtWyb3GvEgP6QElZSDk3y_L5XIkyKhZwnJX7yaqYXMrDjWIP3el52jZ8/s320/P_20190601_091901_vHDR_On.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: xx-small;">Michele Favaloro dials-in a new bike for a CycleItalia client.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Really? <i>Zio Lorenzo</i> <b><u>was</u></b> a bike-fitter back-in-the-day, using the original New England Cycling Academy's "FitKit" method, taught to him by the bike shop owner he worked for. We charged for the service and each job was signed-off by the owner (the guy with the diploma) so <i>Zio </i>has some experience in this area.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">He made this <a href="https://www.bikeraceinfo.com/tech/bike-measurments.html">video</a> to help CycleItalia clients get accurate measurements from their bikes to help him to set up bikes for them from our rental fleet. I guess this former Tour winner should have watched it too?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">How could you screw this up? Setting saddle-to-handlebar distance is the second thing <i>Zio</i> does after setting the seat height! This pro says the distance from his handlebar to saddle was off by 3 centimeters, causing back pain. Duh. <i>Zio</i> understands the guy was broken-up badly in his crash before going to this team but he was unable to feel a 3 cm difference and nobody ever bothered to compare the measurements from his old team bike...for 3 years? What measurements did they use to select the frame size, stem length, etc, when he went to this new team? Aren't these people supposed to be pros?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">So much for all the maniacal attention-to-detail and "marginal gains" claptrap used to explain his and his former team's success. If he's really this clueless one has to wonder if his success was due to something else maybe? This <u>was</u> a guy who couldn't seem to get out of his own way until he joined that infamous British team, already at 25 years of age.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Lots of race wins and <a href="https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/anti-doping-expert-on-froome-it-doesnt-quite-add-up/">doping allegations</a> followed. He's as recovered from his horrific crash as he's ever going to be, so perhaps it's time at nearly 40 years of age to realize "Chairman Bill" is right and call it a career?</span></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Larry and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346445393389942837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280439984413663643.post-923612199710188252023-11-02T11:48:00.008+01:002023-11-05T11:49:25.773+01:00Cycling is the new.....<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b> Cycling is the new...what?</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidszUsLyDxcV7xxSBus_1UNOj8hddox6w1EQvW69GMqLRf-YBmO8-St-5i1GUpzYmmEiwTMRTC23wgegkpydZVDYpPnhmehlUmOwXV7lFPZi02RZb4aQLk8UcBCWd0i4rvMawwMJJG_Izp6dKbY3qpH1bQCUD1iAMPgv5k1ad798mXjFS1kifMTV0TKU8/s620/lotusfugly.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="620" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidszUsLyDxcV7xxSBus_1UNOj8hddox6w1EQvW69GMqLRf-YBmO8-St-5i1GUpzYmmEiwTMRTC23wgegkpydZVDYpPnhmehlUmOwXV7lFPZi02RZb4aQLk8UcBCWd0i4rvMawwMJJG_Izp6dKbY3qpH1bQCUD1iAMPgv5k1ad798mXjFS1kifMTV0TKU8/s320/lotusfugly.webp" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image copied from <a href="https://www.bikeradar.com/news/lotus-type-136/">HERE</a></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Zio Lorenzo</i> was thinking about the state of cycling just the other day and now <a href="https://www.bikeradar.com/news/lotus-type-136/">this?</a> Who is the customer for this? $15K seemed to be the price-point for industry "bling-mobiles" with another brand announcing one seemingly every month. Sales are down post-pandemic on bikes priced for the masses so is this the answer? I guess the rich always have money to blow.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Zio </i>can remember back when he got into cycling in a way more than just riding his Schwinn Supersport (basically a Continental with aluminum rims) around for transportation. He bought an SR "Semi-pro" with the then-new Shimano 600 groupset in the mid-1970's. The "bike boom" was perhaps just ending but the gasoline crunch had yet to happen.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Cycling for fun was kind of a hippie thing back then and when <i>Zio</i> bought a real racing bike and pinned-on a number most of the participants showed up in beat-up "econobox" cars worth far less than the bikes on top of them. Greg LeMond was winning in Europe by this time and it seemed everyone embraced the Euro-centric idea of cycling.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Things were going well until LeMond hung up his wheels. A new American fellow came on the scene with very different ideas on Euro-centric cycling. While he may have embraced it at the start, he soon became a "kick their ass, eat their cheese" xenophobe...a textbook ugly American.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">American cycling seemed to change too. The hippies or blue-collar cyclists seemed to vanish, replaced by hedge-fund managers who were way into the "you are what you buy" mentality. <i>Zio</i> saw this first-hand at the bike shops he worked in. Before this, someone in the market for a pro-quality bike would spend some time discussing it with us as we figured out what would be the best bike for them. Most of the time it was built-up from the frame with components chosen by us and the client.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But once "BigTex" came on the scene cycling changed. Sure, multi-national sponsors had come in due to LeMond's success but this was different - clients now came in and almost demanded the "best bike" as if there was such a thing. <i>Zio</i> remembers a client insisting there must be such a thing since the moto mags would declare a certain make/model of moto the best and he'd go out and buy one. Surely the same was true for bicycles!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">"Tex" wrote a book titled not-about-the-bike but now it WAS about the bike! Things have only gotten worse since then and now we have a $25K e-bike for these hedge-fund managers to enjoy.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Before you think <i>Zio</i> is throwing-in-the-towel and saying there's no hope for cycling...there's (at least in Italy) the vintage movement.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKAPX-9OHDXfIOEr6Z0218Z5JCiLyLyL2-fN_RksF18CzVcsiRV1mrpE6e5ynxyRx4hE_yd-anBl4VVA68Eurwdhz1yFsxHQRazFbU4MweW3AfApiYReLXGODBAtjeLvI42-_d2W5gOL3-_izFoxTLQSRmWZ0FGC3owhh_rqFtSMFDc9Y3LaAfz7vKv0A/s1600/berruti.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKAPX-9OHDXfIOEr6Z0218Z5JCiLyLyL2-fN_RksF18CzVcsiRV1mrpE6e5ynxyRx4hE_yd-anBl4VVA68Eurwdhz1yFsxHQRazFbU4MweW3AfApiYReLXGODBAtjeLvI42-_d2W5gOL3-_izFoxTLQSRmWZ0FGC3owhh_rqFtSMFDc9Y3LaAfz7vKv0A/s320/berruti.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">All the old hippies are here perhaps? And some young ones too? For sure the people who made cycling what it was and something both <i>Zio</i> and Heather became interested in all those years ago are here. One could claim it's "You are what you ride" here too, but it's very rarely something you spent a fortune to buy. It's usually something special, maybe your father's bike or a barn-find you lovingly restored.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">So each time <i>Zio</i> is dismayed by news of the next "bling-mobile" he can go downstairs and admire his lovingly restored and now well-used vintage <i>Bianchi</i> or Heather's vintage <i>DeRosa. </i>Both are here in Sicily with us now, ready for <i><a href="https://www.labarocca.org/">La Barocca</a>.</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu5tbg2_JPIscbYtjBlZG2jM0PPQjjRI-9FqWyLHW12ezkX1qugO2j01Lv8t4JJu9pHvR1sQmL7q-CRbyljCdUKpG09Od1pKqXDfzAT8mlgugJOaCVXmfcqa-7Zt4HWC7DFO28k-eX3KfrLGrJhPorcYB11gBjPZfL8kRN1BTjfNO3-McXYt205OdPtRM/s4160/P_20180626_162452_vHDR_On.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2340" data-original-width="4160" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu5tbg2_JPIscbYtjBlZG2jM0PPQjjRI-9FqWyLHW12ezkX1qugO2j01Lv8t4JJu9pHvR1sQmL7q-CRbyljCdUKpG09Od1pKqXDfzAT8mlgugJOaCVXmfcqa-7Zt4HWC7DFO28k-eX3KfrLGrJhPorcYB11gBjPZfL8kRN1BTjfNO3-McXYt205OdPtRM/s320/P_20180626_162452_vHDR_On.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><b style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></b></span><p></p>Larry and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346445393389942837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280439984413663643.post-4698092155266621152023-10-19T12:58:00.004+02:002023-11-05T12:05:57.728+01:00Roma, California, Napoli<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b> A Quick Trip!</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM4Ac6AuoVLbmRli-UYNfAINRPJzlMPDvKg1CX94GYl8N9gtiVxVQKK7VQjZBDXUdSC0NKkN6iqJdXjsitybVdzjYnExzN9W8itklrUg350in-ef910pysbbOUrYUEx9kx8yVtrNcG4MncDN7V3C7KuYHWq5dKnZPW0l8GgrP-7QyoQu6B-kh53BCt85M/s3003/20231012_084846.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2232" data-original-width="3003" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM4Ac6AuoVLbmRli-UYNfAINRPJzlMPDvKg1CX94GYl8N9gtiVxVQKK7VQjZBDXUdSC0NKkN6iqJdXjsitybVdzjYnExzN9W8itklrUg350in-ef910pysbbOUrYUEx9kx8yVtrNcG4MncDN7V3C7KuYHWq5dKnZPW0l8GgrP-7QyoQu6B-kh53BCt85M/s320/20231012_084846.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Well, it started out well - we flew to LAX on this plane from Rome after flying there from Catania the day before. A museum visit with one of Heather's colleagues and some great <i>porchetta</i> sandwiches set us up for the 12+ hour flight the next morning.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We'll NEVER understand why/how the food on ITA Airways can be so awful!? Most people think Italian food is the world's best so how can they serve crap like this? The Italian tourist people should investigate!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOJE5epX2wzNlqzhlDsdzTN55rNOeaTWOaj8sU6CJ2MM5_LVh30ReuX-5y2NniFZrrMrMp6uOK0UswaIjQyug8zBQHcky6tKPD1wm__uv382Lkm_ijztC2vRnIEGQJiPKT4ldYaS8Pav8arPmSwEqAvPEdj62HChyAyf9uVX8Y3VQpOvh9HQTMlsnhP7c/s4000/20231015_145805.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOJE5epX2wzNlqzhlDsdzTN55rNOeaTWOaj8sU6CJ2MM5_LVh30ReuX-5y2NniFZrrMrMp6uOK0UswaIjQyug8zBQHcky6tKPD1wm__uv382Lkm_ijztC2vRnIEGQJiPKT4ldYaS8Pav8arPmSwEqAvPEdj62HChyAyf9uVX8Y3VQpOvh9HQTMlsnhP7c/s320/20231015_145805.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We arrived at LAX, rented a car and enjoyed 4 days of festivities around a family wedding, including a Sunday BBQ. Thanks Bob! And congratulations Amanda & Scott!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We headed back from the land of "everything costs extra" on Monday. We paid $10 a day to park a car under the hotel, $8 extra each morning for someone to make us <i>cappuccino</i> (both were included in a stay <i>Zio Lorenzo</i> did earlier this year in another SoCal hotel, so perhaps it's just the Hyatt people that are so greedy?) This at a place where the (only) guy at the reception desk was dressed more like the janitor and had to be asked to put down the phone, stop swinging his keys around and check us in! I guess good help IS tough to find these days?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Then there were the ITA Airways folks at LAX check-in where the same small roll-aboard bags we came from Rome with + a small backpack somehow became too heavy (more than 10 kg total) to take onboard....unless...you guessed it...we coughed up more money! $140 to be exact AND we still had to check one of our roll-aboards. So we PAID for the opportunity to wait at baggage claim, wonder if our bag would get lost or if someone would open it and help themselves to the contents - all things that have happened to us in the past. This was NOTHING but a money-grab..no matter how many flimsy reasons the check-in folks came up with...and worse...the flight was far from full and we'd carried these same bags onto a (notoriously greedy) Ryanair flight from Catania as well as ITA from Rome. No issues or extra charges on either flight, nor with our return to Catania from Napoli with the same bags.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Next it was off to security where the LAX TSA staff seemed to have been trained by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestapo">Gestapo</a>. They barked orders through megaphones and acted as if every passenger should be 100% familiar with <u>their</u> security procedures, no matter what they might have gone through elsewhere. A nice farewell from the USA...not!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRhwQERatHbKE9uFKdnFiy9HKdACKpr0qFuXPyuRnqaQzh6iwI_okBHgKAAgB4rn6f7UEuEt1MO25izMUBh85HGEqkJVPC0AfbGf4gc5ECZ6ZPN_fhc4PQEG-O80NWuMIcoXqP7pbKeyjQkjYtkIgTwg6Qc866OTjltNgO-L7hIr50m_k_4MWLt4JOLEc/s4000/20231017_152636.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRhwQERatHbKE9uFKdnFiy9HKdACKpr0qFuXPyuRnqaQzh6iwI_okBHgKAAgB4rn6f7UEuEt1MO25izMUBh85HGEqkJVPC0AfbGf4gc5ECZ6ZPN_fhc4PQEG-O80NWuMIcoXqP7pbKeyjQkjYtkIgTwg6Qc866OTjltNgO-L7hIr50m_k_4MWLt4JOLEc/s320/20231017_152636.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Back (finally!) in Italy after more bad airplane food (created we assume in LA so maybe we shouldn't complain?) we took the nonstop train from the Rome airport to the central train station and then boarded a high-speed train to Napoli. Less than two hours later we had a "room with a view" as they say!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXLm9U_hiKnj0Hapxhy0BAD_-OJTZ5VQHAJDQZYhngxFR4TBV0p3beCK3krSAXVF5v0tuhzq6uWuRq4VYIG3iZqB4Mc1akXueuSN5sfdNvBL5j0ozTwTpmDARvBFxNUKt2WejUcfLGG7eDxVTMQA-ir0gwOLE2MiQW6-opIP3D1kBRIGZOxQqdt0mBEEg/s4000/20231017_160120.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXLm9U_hiKnj0Hapxhy0BAD_-OJTZ5VQHAJDQZYhngxFR4TBV0p3beCK3krSAXVF5v0tuhzq6uWuRq4VYIG3iZqB4Mc1akXueuSN5sfdNvBL5j0ozTwTpmDARvBFxNUKt2WejUcfLGG7eDxVTMQA-ir0gwOLE2MiQW6-opIP3D1kBRIGZOxQqdt0mBEEg/s320/20231017_160120.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And a nice greeting when we checked-in to our Napoli hotel, staffed by smiling, friendly people in suits and ties - real pros who take pride in their work, though we DID have to pay room service ($7) to bring up some glasses and a corkscrew to the room so we could enjoy this nice gift.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Breakfast wasn't included with this one-night stay but with one of <a href="https://www.cuoridisfogliatella.it/">these</a> just steps away, who cares? Our next stop was <a href="https://culinarybackstreets.com/cities-category/naples/2021/caffe-mexico-2/">here to enjoy a real espresso</a> and stock up on <i>espresso </i>to take home, then on to the <a href="https://mann-napoli.it/en/home-english/">MANN</a> before pizza for lunch. Some walking around <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaccanapoli_(street)">Spaccanapoli </a>filled the time before we caught our flight back to Catania.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Needless to write - but we're glad to be back home!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><b style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></b></span><p></p>Larry and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346445393389942837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280439984413663643.post-31443511134417754202023-10-09T15:56:00.006+02:002023-12-04T11:22:59.711+01:00Gravel World Champs<p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> A rainbow jersey for gravel racing?</span></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqvrF9C6jeEp7glipUAqQRGEZpyKjQvYJ5qZSKWC0PwvOnHIOjMcb593WY3hKZQYTYybsigdteTRiVpXxAM1taNvH3iy22Crn8C2TzjNl7am8foG51RqSI1JQZWVWt6eP7L8KEhqgsXnBjjA_99mFvj2p0CQ2UIFtMbfEgdRGXGrVxDgYcZ3LV-OsiNnU/s620/gravel.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="620" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqvrF9C6jeEp7glipUAqQRGEZpyKjQvYJ5qZSKWC0PwvOnHIOjMcb593WY3hKZQYTYybsigdteTRiVpXxAM1taNvH3iy22Crn8C2TzjNl7am8foG51RqSI1JQZWVWt6eP7L8KEhqgsXnBjjA_99mFvj2p0CQ2UIFtMbfEgdRGXGrVxDgYcZ3LV-OsiNnU/s320/gravel.webp" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: xx-small;">Here's the<a href="https://www.bikeradar.com/news/new-merida-silex/"> link </a>to the story <i>Zio</i> stole the photo from.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Is <i>Zio Lorenzo </i>the only one who smells an industry-created rainbow jersey here? I mean, c'mon..you already created a <a href="http://cycleitalia.blogspot.com/2022/01/april-1st-already.html">Hall of Fame</a>, which was kind of laughable, right?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The bike biz seems really obsessed with gravel bikes. They've already sold you a 'cross bike which is so last fad, not to mention a road bike, an aero road bike, an endurance road bike, not to mention a super light road bike and gawd-knows-what else.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">So now it's gravel bike with a rainbow jersey to go with 'em. <i>Zio</i> says they should have given rainbow jerseys to the winners of <a href="https://www.strade-bianche.it/en/stages/stradebianche-m-2023/">Strade Bianche Eroica Pro </a> but what does he know? He knows a few things - one being that gravel is another American invention, despite the fact races have been run on unpaved surfaces for years and the <i><a href="https://www.strade-bianche.it/news-center/">Strade Bianche</a> </i>for pros<i> </i>event has been run for over a decade.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Some guys race on gravel roads across Kansas or Iowa in sort of what <i>Zio</i> calls an "Evel Kneivel" event = an event you dreamed up because you couldn't win anything that was already being run. Kneivel wasn't a very good motorcycle racer so he decided to be the champ of jumping his Harley-Davidson over school buses. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">One could argue triathlon was invented by guys who weren't good enough to win a bike, swim or foot race, so combining them would give them a chance to be champs at something, even if its something they created.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">More than a few US pros have stopped racing at the World Tour level to return home and race gravel. One even turned down an offer to race at the WT with Jonathon Vaughters squad after winning a big gravel race. But just like with MTB's back-in-the-day, once the big, bad UCI got involved these US gravel champs found it tough to win in international competition. Too many US sports organizations crown their champs as "World Champs" when their own name is National (as in NBA, NFL) rather than International.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But at least this time round the US gravel champ came in 5th, though far, far behind the winner - <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matej_Mohori%C4%8D">a road pro and winner of Milano-Sanremo,</a> riding his very first gravel race, riding pretty much a road bike with room for fatter tires. Meanwhile the women's rainbow jersey was one by another road pro...riding her first gravel race.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Funny thing is, until the 1980's pretty much any road bike could have been used as a gravel bike. Look at old photos of <a href="https://www.mondiali.it/curiosita-sportive/la-morte-fausto-coppi-malaria-non-diagnosticata/"><i>Fausto Coppi</i>,</a> or more recently <i><a href="https://biografieonline.it/biografia-felice-gimondi">Felice Gimondi</a></i> and notice they're racing on GRAVEL roads a lot of the time. But once "<a href="https://www.quora.com/Why-did-the-bike-industry-shift-from-long-reach-to-short-reach-brakes">short reach" brakes</a> came along with their supposed technological superiority, tires were limited to around 28 mm in width, making "gravel" riding perhaps too challenging.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But now with disc brakes, there's no limit on room for fat tires on drop-bar bicycles, though the course used for the gravel world's looked on TV like it could have easily been raced on bikes like John Tomac or even <i>Zio Lorenzo </i>raced on back-in-the-day.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDB0qAq-LosINzw9pYmMVPD-GiZYIw63a2xTxrRWtjDsk4qWgEmBuHh1w8muUEUjc2jarXvvAILjaJZkx9_BugLR0yQ_IKxkxrYG13B6cQQkNa_TFTKnDPH-3wg-cafwO7P6IENsx7kML0Wd0hX7vcaXodhNXHUkR9kSS_EGP4-kGRrf6mhYZV1FfC53A/s2019/BigBearsnow.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1926" data-original-width="2019" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDB0qAq-LosINzw9pYmMVPD-GiZYIw63a2xTxrRWtjDsk4qWgEmBuHh1w8muUEUjc2jarXvvAILjaJZkx9_BugLR0yQ_IKxkxrYG13B6cQQkNa_TFTKnDPH-3wg-cafwO7P6IENsx7kML0Wd0hX7vcaXodhNXHUkR9kSS_EGP4-kGRrf6mhYZV1FfC53A/s320/BigBearsnow.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">So what happened? <i>Zio</i> thinks MTB courses have become really technical due to 29" wheels and full suspension, with "rock gardens" and all kinds of stuff that would have either caused crashes or cyclocross style bike carrying with 26" wheels and rigid frames/forks. Gravel has been inserted into this space, both in sales and competition, but the industry is still trying to figure out whether these things are drop-bar MTB's or road bikes with room for fatter tires, like back-in-the-day. Either way, they want to sell you one...or more, if they can convince you that you need one of each!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Until they figure it out, <i>Zio</i> thinks 2023 <i>Strade Bianche</i> winnersThomas Pidcock and Demi Vollering are as much gravel world champs as Matej Mohoric or Kasia Niewiadoma, though the latter get to wear the rainbow stripes.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And <i>Zio Lorenzo</i> now has one of each - his ancient 26" wheeled, rim-braked, front suspended SuperGravelMonster</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2OUJdqlrsoyfltobrJyzkLCWHFaLs5WGntEl60QQWYNwTUGfBPnZjc9F47POTSK7CneRHwXBkdoVCzr1T0KdUkXt37FgjQPTbora14EHBioWB-OIYOEd7lvX8ZrlPlJyJRbHEPSf0ridlkdkxofum5muea6v_qo0okdY5V20t0Gw4VEsaRwzakk9jGTQ/s4000/20221111_161601.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2OUJdqlrsoyfltobrJyzkLCWHFaLs5WGntEl60QQWYNwTUGfBPnZjc9F47POTSK7CneRHwXBkdoVCzr1T0KdUkXt37FgjQPTbora14EHBioWB-OIYOEd7lvX8ZrlPlJyJRbHEPSf0ridlkdkxofum5muea6v_qo0okdY5V20t0Gw4VEsaRwzakk9jGTQ/s320/20221111_161601.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: arial;">And a "real" gravel bike</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMSYAcXtpLRREw7je10jNLKqcYZdJXHAAcWIuwXwyWU01E4zXeVzgeMO3yl0pEHJ4dxediekG-f5kl2I-QfHxx96yglO0ytx3wdgcfwQiU7UKWSx4Pljh_Q89ozX5Tj0XhjbiI8ux0T9q63Dq8kVgteBqyd7X7TLnTaqrVbiUYSfhkZfGt39bUznKK6d4/s1920/bianchgravel.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1186" data-original-width="1920" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMSYAcXtpLRREw7je10jNLKqcYZdJXHAAcWIuwXwyWU01E4zXeVzgeMO3yl0pEHJ4dxediekG-f5kl2I-QfHxx96yglO0ytx3wdgcfwQiU7UKWSx4Pljh_Q89ozX5Tj0XhjbiI8ux0T9q63Dq8kVgteBqyd7X7TLnTaqrVbiUYSfhkZfGt39bUznKK6d4/s320/bianchgravel.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Just like the <a href="http://cycleitalia.blogspot.com/2022/05/gravelicious.html">one(s) Heather has, </a>which is a story for a future blog post!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Another take on this race <a href="https://velo.outsideonline.com/gravel/gravel-racing/what-did-the-euro-roadies-think-of-gravel-worlds-no-race-ive-done-on-the-road-is-as-hard-as-today/">HERE</a>. And more on the gravel racing scene <a href="https://www.cyclingnews.com/features/rocks-to-riches-global-impacts-and-impressions-from-gravel-racing-in-2023/">HERE</a>.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><p></p>Larry and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346445393389942837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280439984413663643.post-29487580254549317652023-10-04T15:11:00.002+02:002023-11-02T13:08:02.120+01:00What's wrong with pro cycling?<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b> What's wrong with pro cycling?</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqEc5jndSC3tPEbpd0otG56wrDyN8ew_14u3ZIiompzegEhffV2BmS22pQl7xoFH7HcVjDwUwNqcq3auQ0RTyoCdWtgXCy2GZXzzTOkBNYCtI6HYHwsPU8PeSwdGIvIoksAFORuFiXyc4DwMwQRX-zDVX06BGzA3eblhKJGLqyoXWlTKlIzIUTsybaXC8/s3555/20230510_172316.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2666" data-original-width="3555" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqEc5jndSC3tPEbpd0otG56wrDyN8ew_14u3ZIiompzegEhffV2BmS22pQl7xoFH7HcVjDwUwNqcq3auQ0RTyoCdWtgXCy2GZXzzTOkBNYCtI6HYHwsPU8PeSwdGIvIoksAFORuFiXyc4DwMwQRX-zDVX06BGzA3eblhKJGLqyoXWlTKlIzIUTsybaXC8/s320/20230510_172316.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">What are we discussing? <i>Zio</i> notes the frenzied speculation going on (which of course by the time you read this could be nothing) about the merger of two top pro cycling teams - <i>Jumbo-Visma</i> and <i>Soudal-Quickstep</i>.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">How does this make any sense? <i>Zio</i> guesses it started with talk of the <i>Jumbo</i> supermarket chain ending their sponsorship of what's kind of like the New York Yankees of cycling. While some financial chicanery regarding the <i>Jumbo</i> company has been in the news, it mostly seemed an advertising/sponsorship deal had simply run its course.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Rumors started about the Saudi's throwing up to 100 million into the team, joining neighbors UAE and Bahrain in what many see as a sportwashing enterprise. <i>Zio</i> wonders why they don't just buy the entire sport as they seem to be doing with golf, but just as quickly talk of Saudi involvement ended.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">No new sponsor appeared on the scene, leading to speculation on the merger scheme. <b><u>THIS is what's wrong with pro cycling!</u></b> In what other sport would a team that won all three grand tours, finished 1-2-3 in more than a few stages and so far in 2023 has 62 race wins...end up flailing around to find a replacement sponsor or worse, merging with another team?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Many will scream about "pro cycling's broken business model" while calling for a North American style franchise team system. The group known as <i>Velon </i>whines about this constantly, but they seem concerned only with the capitalist side of the idea - they say nothing about the socialist ideas of salary-caps and a draft system to more fairly distribute new talent.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That's not <i>Zio</i>'s argument. What he doesn't understand is why few are interested in having their company name on the jersey of the "New York Yankees of cycling"? Pro cycling sponsorship can take many forms, whether it's a bicycle company, supermarket chain or just a company owned by a cycling fan who figures he's gotta put his advertising money somewhere so why not into something he enjoys watching?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Back-in-the-day, pro cycling was on broadcast TV so a company who liked cycling could advertise their mattresses, TV sets, face cream or whatever and find an audience in the housewives who had the TV going during the day. Think of all those consumer products that used to sponsor cycling teams (<a href="https://inrng.com/2019/05/magni-nivea-sponsorship/">since Fiorenzo Magni started it all in 1953)</a> vs today. Where are they now?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The most recent Grand Tours were rather dull, so how many tuned-in on broadcast TV or streamed the video each day? Supermarket chain LIDL has recently taken a bigger role in the sport but don't forget they used to sponsor one of the teams rumored to be merging.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Zio </i>wonders if pro cycling has become uninteresting to the general public? Racing more and more controlled via radio earpiece using exotic bicycles that cost as much as a cheap automobile and get replaced multiple times during a daily stage might be turning the public off. Same for dominating performances like we saw in <a href="http://cycleitalia.blogspot.com/2023/09/thoughts-on-la-vuelta-2023.html">La Vuelta 2023</a>. Is there a scent that some might not be following the rules?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Meanwhile, last Sunday almost 10 thousand people coughed up some real money to ride old-time steel bicycles around the roads (paved and unpaved) of Tuscany at <a href="https://eroica.cc/it">L'Eroica.</a> And believe it or not, the event was broadcast on Italian national TV for hours. Could all the modern technology and radio-controlled racing be turning people away from pro cycling? Or has the ever-increasing cost to bankroll a competitive, top-tier team (thanks in large part to the silly Pro/World Tour concept) simply priced too many potential sponsors out of the sport? </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Zio</i>'s guess is it's some of both but one has to admit something's very, very wrong when it seems the "New York Yankees" of cycling might have to merge with another team simply to survive.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></b></span><p></p>Larry and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346445393389942837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280439984413663643.post-25703407424063019172023-09-25T12:35:00.009+02:002024-03-07T16:39:18.904+01:00A Slippery Subject Part 2<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b> Friction Fiction?</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Link to Part 1 <a href="http://cycleitalia.blogspot.com/2016/11/a-slippery-subject.html">HERE</a>.<i> Zio Lorenzo</i> was doing the equivalent of "channel surfing" the other day on that popular internet site for people to upload video of all kinds. More and more these seemed aimed at somehow making money. <i>Zio'</i>s made a <a href="http://www.bikeraceinfo.com/tech/bike-wash.html">couple</a> of <a href="http://www.bikeraceinfo.com/tech/bike-measurments.html">these</a> himself, but the idea was to be helpful, sharing some information he thought not well represented online. He was not paid, just made 'em on request from a friend.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Being a long-time bicycle mechanic he was drawn to some chain-care videos that make some...well....questionable claims about wax. If you've been a bike rider for any length of time there's a good chance you've been accosted by one of these cult members. <i>Zio</i> certainly has!</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Back-in-the-day the cult was smaller and perhaps the claims less questionable since they centered around how clean things would stay while maybe your chain would last longer as a result. But you still had to clean all the (perfectly good, though maybe aimed more at keeping the chain from rusting in the package than helping you go fast?) lube off the thing somehow, then boil it in the wax. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Back then it was often just wax used to seal jars sold at the grocery store. <i>Zio</i> dismissed the attempts to get him to join the cult, figuring there was nothing much wrong with oil unless you were one of those clean-freaks. A well-lubricated chain is already said to be something like 98% efficient vs gears or belts, so what's the big deal?</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A couple of things happened over recent years that seemed to revive and expand the waxing cult: Quick-links made it easier to remove and reinstall your chain and the era of "watts", as in measured power output or power "savings" via reduced friction, aero drag, etc, began. These developments made specialized waxes with special additives to the basic paraffin claimed to reduce friction and extend chain life popular and PROFITABLE - a 500 gram bag of this stuff can cost $50!</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But you can't just buy a $50 bag o' snake-wax and dump it on your chain! First you have to clean the chain, best done (they say) via an ultrasonic cleaner and some sort of solvent, despite the fact that every chain maker's instructions <i>Zio</i>'s read say NEVER remove your chain for cleaning. Once it's clean you'll need to boil it in the snake-wax, hoping you don't burn down your shop or garage in the process. Don't laugh, <i>Zio</i> knows of more than one wax-cult member who did just that!</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">All this for what? To avoid that "fred mark" on your calf if you bang it into the chainring? With the arrival of power-meters and talk of watt-saving, the supposed efficiency improvements now take center-stage, followed by wild claims of improved chain life and hundreds, if not thousands of dollars saved on cogs and chainrings!</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Zio</i> dismisses all the watt-saving hoopla as mostly marketing-maven bullspeak as finishing his daily bike ride one minute sooner is meaningless, but what about the longer chain and component life? Isn't that worth something?</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A brand-new KMC 12-speed bike chain can be had for around $30 while 10 or 11-speed versions cost less. <i>Zio</i>'s math says spending a lot of money and time to extend the life of a $30-40 chain is a losing proposition. If you keep a nearly-new chain on the the bike, the cogs and chainrings last almost forever based on results from the rental fleet <i>Zio </i>maintained for almost 2 decades.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But some of these snake-wax salesmen get pretty riled-up when you point this out as <i>Zio</i> assumes they're making fat stax selling $50 bags o' wax? One of these self-appointed wizards from the "<i>World's leading independent test facility for chain lubricants</i>" (his claim) has responded with some pretty nasty emails on the subject when asked about certain products he either hasn't tested*** or at least doesn't provide data for. The angry responses make <i>Zio</i> think he's hiding something, but who knows?</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgua2iCD_Uggf9iZybgsO1yZ57pygH3xHsskiz94m7I30NokMMWazFe_YJJYx95ce5Yr7Xt8GE0fv0HRS79pNoTJVQ-MWXIK4Pi9XqEa6Z88RNUKH9y5F09a1lcQTgG-r8U_9GP3J1e-6Bmfo7Tzr0BgFq-3Jh2UP4HNtlFipWQGRP-XD1UB3k1ri1sztM/s326/mobil1.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="326" data-original-width="184" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgua2iCD_Uggf9iZybgsO1yZ57pygH3xHsskiz94m7I30NokMMWazFe_YJJYx95ce5Yr7Xt8GE0fv0HRS79pNoTJVQ-MWXIK4Pi9XqEa6Z88RNUKH9y5F09a1lcQTgG-r8U_9GP3J1e-6Bmfo7Tzr0BgFq-3Jh2UP4HNtlFipWQGRP-XD1UB3k1ri1sztM/s320/mobil1.webp" width="181" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This is what <i>Zio</i> uses to lube chains these daze (and one of the products he wanted to see tested) If you want to support your local bike shop or spend extra on tiny bottles of bike-specific (though in a lot of cases the only thing bike-specific is the packaging) lube, it's your money. Apply it using this method**</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Next, buy one of these things</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeifXIEG_pMzer7GV3BmFWQYQneAWGVbYuq458rzo3JjCHMOWnlvNHsCaWIRFpYqiUXYXZ78R7EoCsq4qemRPLLG5-1oV_0mU-T56u6rpr_XDQVmwz7oXJInjWYO7rTEAlAInUhLEzw33dCe3BStowgH8Dvw5vr-lQpulVjj-ti-7o7DAPSMxp6zuwp7E/s700/bike-hand-chain-wear-indicator.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeifXIEG_pMzer7GV3BmFWQYQneAWGVbYuq458rzo3JjCHMOWnlvNHsCaWIRFpYqiUXYXZ78R7EoCsq4qemRPLLG5-1oV_0mU-T56u6rpr_XDQVmwz7oXJInjWYO7rTEAlAInUhLEzw33dCe3BStowgH8Dvw5vr-lQpulVjj-ti-7o7DAPSMxp6zuwp7E/s320/bike-hand-chain-wear-indicator.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">There are many brands and <i>Zio</i> thinks any of 'em will do just fine. Measure your chain when new and periodically check it for wear. When it measures half-worn-out, simply replace it with a new one. Your cogs and chainrings will last a long, long time and you'll save a lot of time and money the wax-cult wastes. When it's time to clean the chain and drivetrain, a teaspoon of a solvent like diesel fuel* does the trick, something covered in the bike-washing video you can link-to above.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But no ultrasonic cleaners, no wax-boilers, no risk of fire and no $50 bags of wax pellets to extend the life of a $30/40 chain! While you're saving money think about cheaper substitutes for other bike-specific (and always more expensive) products. If you enjoy helping your local bike shop by purchasing their bike-specific products, that's OK...but if you want to save some money think of this:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEyWEtn5u7mGjHe5mpnwdCQf4NNs7ErlNd5sKwsLTvt21JgA4Qj0Awbz42iC9lkJzWBwYl9BHaFfc7tD6kIe_-y99hvCj7M1zuKCJEf-0Ij12Et3kQnxDtMmFE4J06T9sSvJ7i7hk2tHZ6MKyWgYdPSh62gIxXXU_66khl6thjFJ2S_o3pFyOqdW-jIvs/s2000/pledge.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="2000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEyWEtn5u7mGjHe5mpnwdCQf4NNs7ErlNd5sKwsLTvt21JgA4Qj0Awbz42iC9lkJzWBwYl9BHaFfc7tD6kIe_-y99hvCj7M1zuKCJEf-0Ij12Et3kQnxDtMmFE4J06T9sSvJ7i7hk2tHZ6MKyWgYdPSh62gIxXXU_66khl6thjFJ2S_o3pFyOqdW-jIvs/s320/pledge.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Or this****:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf4Os7SDtg0GkV0KXsnqEbLT-r4fO1plFoSoCZBc3sauRZsPbMEyxm5bO62AHfQumD0FxPeyU9r1ELc85ddfXs5RV37RxLk312uEst1FqAHRb7e54t2MI9pTxuocwSop1rIruMHq6L1aeBKzoxkqGX2ZS1sB1KDwC9zmZnXJzSZJkYEpJei3x7Tuv8s3o/s318/mafra.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="173" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf4Os7SDtg0GkV0KXsnqEbLT-r4fO1plFoSoCZBc3sauRZsPbMEyxm5bO62AHfQumD0FxPeyU9r1ELc85ddfXs5RV37RxLk312uEst1FqAHRb7e54t2MI9pTxuocwSop1rIruMHq6L1aeBKzoxkqGX2ZS1sB1KDwC9zmZnXJzSZJkYEpJei3x7Tuv8s3o/s1600/mafra.webp" width="173" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: arial;">From the grocery or auto supply store. Most of the time what's in these is the same stuff as the bike-specific waxing/polishing products, but the high-volume, low markup saves you money. <i>Zio</i> has taken care of fleets of bicycles for decades using cheap and easy to find products like these. Same goes for disc-brake care, many say you must use specific products or rubbing alcohol, but alcohol (not ammonia!) based window cleaners work just fine for cleaning your brake rotors after a bike wash.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">As they say, IT'S YOUR MONEY!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><i>*We'll admit an environmental argument to be made against using something as nasty as diesel fuel for this purpose. But consider a) You're <u>not </u>cleaning all the perfectly good grease off the new chain to apply the wax. If you do, where does that grease/oil + the solvent (made from?) end up? b) The diesel acts as both cleaner and lube so you use less chain lube overall. Don't forget you also use no electricity to power the ultra-sonic cleaner or wax-cooker. Wax-cultists say to clean your waxed chain you just boil it in water. Where does that contaminated water end up?</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: arial; font-size: xx-small; text-align: left;">**1. With your chain in the big ring and the smallest cog apply 8 to 10 drops of lube at random and run the chain backwards to distribute the lube. A very good method is the 12:12:12 method. follow the instructions for chain position than add 12 random drops, rotate the chain 12 times than wipe it with a clean cotton cloth for 12 seconds</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: arial; font-size: x-small; text-align: left;">.</span></i><i style="background-color: white; color: #414141; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-align: start;">The cogs will do the job of distributing the lube. Once all the lube has been distributed to the chain wipe any excess OFF the cog/chainring AND chain.</i></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #414141; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; transition: opacity 0.25s ease-in-out 0s;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>*** The guy mentioned finally DID mention testing Finish Line Wet lube in February 2024. No surprise that it wasn't highly rated but it was interesting he claimed nobody responded to inquiries he'd made to the maker. Zio contacted the maker who said they'd never heard anything from the guy, despite his claims to the contrary. Zio wonders if Mobil 1 would test any better but maybe the test protocol might be devised to make wax lubes look better since that's what the guy sells? Either way, he's content to skip the wax-cult's obsessive practices, save the money and "pay" any penalty in watts lost on his rides.</i></span></p><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #414141; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, sans-serif; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; transition: opacity 0.25s ease-in-out 0s;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>**** There's a guy out there asking $100 a liter for a spray wax product for bicycles! Might be some great stuff but how can it be worth 5 X the price of stuff you can buy at the auto parts store? What could it possible do (or not do) to your bike to justify that price?</i></span></p></div><p style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p>Larry and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346445393389942837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280439984413663643.post-5265503495099432832023-09-18T15:37:00.002+02:002023-09-21T08:26:50.238+02:00Thoughts on La Vuelta 2023<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b> A Cinderella story?</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNWXxwwcqibLciFubUfWnqRRqvE2YzuxCxoOtbk7OXbqorxDV0FQC8YfbWX8gZTcsT08Qn9YvvHH6ePgDTsEip69MH6w0k3tY2Ch0PW6VY0JigI-P7NlW-3PVxHoyBnCDn2URhwLKd_zZmvWx5wmaRj3X3LJwadbhcYOWGlVYHb3EWEa5beqGICpR6lrs/s1500/vueltamap2023.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNWXxwwcqibLciFubUfWnqRRqvE2YzuxCxoOtbk7OXbqorxDV0FQC8YfbWX8gZTcsT08Qn9YvvHH6ePgDTsEip69MH6w0k3tY2Ch0PW6VY0JigI-P7NlW-3PVxHoyBnCDn2URhwLKd_zZmvWx5wmaRj3X3LJwadbhcYOWGlVYHb3EWEa5beqGICpR6lrs/w320-h400/vueltamap2023.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Stolen from <a href="https://www.lavuelta.es/es/recorrido-general">HERE</a> so maybe ASO won't get mad?</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>La Vuelta</i> 2023 is in the record books though <i>Zio</i> guesses there's still some damp clothes soaked with <i>cava</i> today? <i>BRAVO</i> to the organizers for letting the spray of bubbly back into the ceremonies!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Back in 2021 our friends at <a href="http://www.bikeraceinfo.com/commentary/theobald-larry/Thoughts-on-La-Vuelta-2021.html">BikeRaceInfo</a> published <i>Zio</i>'s <i>Vuelta</i> review. Click on the link to read it. In 2022 it was <a href="http://cycleitalia.blogspot.com/2022/09/thoughts-on-la-vuelta-2022.html">here</a>.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For 2023 we had a post <a href="http://cycleitalia.blogspot.com/2023/08/slip-sliding-away.html">HERE</a> after <i>La Vuelta</i>'s rocky (or should it say soggy?) start but now it's time to review the whole thing.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Congratulations to Sepp Kuss! It's been a looong time since we've heard an anthem that starts with <i>"Oh say can you see..."</i> at the end of a big-time pro cycling race. Nobody can say he didn't deserve the win, especially as his only real challengers were teammates. Enjoy yourself Sepp! If your salary contract didn't include a big bonus for something like this, make 'em cough it up before you sign any new ones. You earned it! A real Cinderella story that looked for a few days like the ugly stepsisters were going to send you back into the kitchen, but instead you won.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But about those stepsisters - was it them or the management who flipped from "One for all, all for one" to what seemed like "every man for himself" once your Danish teammate recovered from his stomach issues? Lots of PR-speak kind of covered it all up, but on a team noted for team orders (ask WVA) the question is still out there.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Other questions remain unanswered as well: How does a team win all three Grand Tours in one year with three different riders? How does a team go 1-2-3 in the GC ((and a few stages) with the winners of the other two Grand Tours? How does a guy who raced in-service of those winners in both <i>Giro</i> and <i>Tour</i> still have what it takes to win the <i>Vuelta</i>?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And what is going-on in a team where a week prior to the <i>Vuelta</i>, one of their <a href="https://www.bicycling.com/racing/a44844152/michel-hessmann-suspended-after-positive-test/">riders tested positive and was suspended? </a> A guy who raced the <i>Giro</i> along with Kuss and winner Roglic. Meanwhile, during the <i>Vuelta</i>, another Jumbo-Visma rider (one who rode with Kuss and Vingegaard at the Tour) <a href="https://www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/66789724">collapses behind the wheel of his car a</a>t a stoplight*</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Zio</i> doesn't think you need to wear a tinfoil hat to wonder what is going on. For now he thinks there's a scent of chicanery here. Will it become an odor like the one wafting around the last <a href="http://www.cyclingquotes.com/news/expert_raises_doubt_about_chris_horners_vuelta_win/?urlPath=news/expert_raises_doubt_about_chris_horners_vuelta_win/?acceptCookie=1">American winner of La Vuelta</a>?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> Or worse, a stench like the one emanating to this day from BigTex or the last nice-guy, <a href="https://www.cyclist.co.uk/in-depth/tyler-hamilton-cyclist">boy-next-door who seemed just-too-nice to cheat?</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Sadly, all we can do is wait and see.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Another <a href="http://www.bikeraceinfo.com/commentary/stanley-david/2023/2023-Vuelta-a-Espana-Looking-Back.html">view here from David Stanley</a> who is far less rah-rah than I expected.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">* Update - <a href="https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/nathan-van-hooydonck-forced-to-retire-early-from-cycling-due-to-heart-problems/">a heart issue like Sonny Colbrelli </a>so perhaps nothing to do with anything unseemly?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></b></span><p></p>Larry and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346445393389942837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280439984413663643.post-50902072733255675052023-09-05T17:04:00.005+02:002023-09-12T09:42:13.086+02:00Four wheeled fun<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b> F1 Grand Prix Monza 2023</b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8I7fneqSoBTEwTo5Ak1Ine3Txvuwx2z3liDxkZQNDW-1zTWoUiJZ8UtBGMME3Ka13MKxSGKQJ_kSP121peTswO4ASKXNxdU2kUA4U3d7Kt8_c0l2sGVYPqZ5G8d37qrYOR9cKY0aMu67eMrR-sHS2BAcBAu1q7B8pSqbUtcCs2N2ijtEBucJej2aaJZc/s3830/20230905_094810.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3830" data-original-width="2600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8I7fneqSoBTEwTo5Ak1Ine3Txvuwx2z3liDxkZQNDW-1zTWoUiJZ8UtBGMME3Ka13MKxSGKQJ_kSP121peTswO4ASKXNxdU2kUA4U3d7Kt8_c0l2sGVYPqZ5G8d37qrYOR9cKY0aMu67eMrR-sHS2BAcBAu1q7B8pSqbUtcCs2N2ijtEBucJej2aaJZc/s320/20230905_094810.jpg" width="217" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">WTF you ask? <i>Zio Lorenzo</i>'s a two-wheeled guy, whether motorized or pedaled. But he used to like watching car racing, only bailing-out on F1 back when they made 'em race on those awful grooved "tractor" tires many years ago.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">He watched a time or two on free-to-air TV here in Italy but the races seemed to be boring parades with final placings determined more by tire management and ticky-tack penalties than actual racing skills. He didn't bother with the "mock-u-series" <i>Drive to Survive</i> but did have some interest in seeing the iconic Monza circuit at some point. And why not combine it with an actual race? WSBK races there but Heather has zero interest in motor sports so who can he scare-up to go with him?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_NFgDYBohYQi6GxmDGRi9hfzIhCqWSnHEcMaH1tDvHd5NC9u3q-FeURYuxMLnCqLV8cgG4NSWqmnlTlWAQjVrb3ioH47dgXkoTFmm2ZY2ZwNxjR3MBSQFLjI2JD_0vCAxIIhD9UJz8JScCwB08aTB2XxX-b4G3ApWWKFMFN9K_R0HXoocu2a9UUEJ3P8/s3918/20230901_193708.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1962" data-original-width="3918" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_NFgDYBohYQi6GxmDGRi9hfzIhCqWSnHEcMaH1tDvHd5NC9u3q-FeURYuxMLnCqLV8cgG4NSWqmnlTlWAQjVrb3ioH47dgXkoTFmm2ZY2ZwNxjR3MBSQFLjI2JD_0vCAxIIhD9UJz8JScCwB08aTB2XxX-b4G3ApWWKFMFN9K_R0HXoocu2a9UUEJ3P8/s320/20230901_193708.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">How 'bout some Sicilian friends? Like <i>Sergio</i> and son <i>Lorenzo</i>, the two guys in the back of this photo? They talk about F1 a lot when <i>Zio</i> visits with them but never have seen a race live, in-person. When he proposed the Monza idea they said <i>"You'll never get tickets"</i> but when general admission tix were available their bluff was called and plans were made.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We met at the tour operator's hotel on Friday afternoon and made plans for Saturday. <i>Zio</i> wanted to walk around to see the modern and historic track, especially in places the drivers were slowing or turning, same as he did back-in-the-day at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Prix_of_Long_Beach#:~:text=The%20Long%20Beach%20Grand%20Prix,Formula%20One%20event%20in%201976.">Long Beach, CA </a>in the early 1980's when it was <i>Andretti</i> and <i>Lauda</i> putting on the show.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGxVEaKemF_wN6mwm0SCChA5sdq69zB-dtdB1QNfIbfn2ozYw4Qgcg1XaZH5uhFtk1KiICqtLCYeZfRkaGNNB4m1VuCDv7uLCiDFY4DgrElODCFFpkWv2NTaX_KdNIepIWX-XxcgMBMId3EwsI_EATlE69KwHEoyG3QHPUEpbMNoNXjUtB2opYteMe2O4/s320/20230902_141015.jpg" width="240" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">THIS is what <i>Zio</i> came for (above) and after Saturday his dreams were fulfilled and he let Sunday be for his friends - wherever they chose as a venue to watch the race was OK with him.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVy0Kp9iaLfsKrzA6oN1TmT1Hf0veUcj908v3DlaLULu7XxAeWOlEuy9CzYa2NIfHM3hXrdvuceOfin5q20tgUTzVJCj01CrV19cq1tePhlKiXkoi6CJGT5v9tEm4NBjkwI5aaXEa-xQb4KxUPiID3SnVhb4EEuNg-Kiq2v8PGQXabbH_zGo0675b-9EA/s4000/20230903_145000.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVy0Kp9iaLfsKrzA6oN1TmT1Hf0veUcj908v3DlaLULu7XxAeWOlEuy9CzYa2NIfHM3hXrdvuceOfin5q20tgUTzVJCj01CrV19cq1tePhlKiXkoi6CJGT5v9tEm4NBjkwI5aaXEa-xQb4KxUPiID3SnVhb4EEuNg-Kiq2v8PGQXabbH_zGo0675b-9EA/s320/20230903_145000.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Sunday was race day! With <i>Imola</i> cancelled because of flooding in the area, this was THE F1 GP in Italy for 2023 and it seemed everyone was there, including a bunch of Italian govt. bigshots.</span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEynw3i_Ya1ff1H_7NMP4GJqbbTyLoWYH3JyEVk_BsxeNio-RdyvSQhWexv6QUWNiJYtmyZSXJMBV8iGrj9kpr0jz_q6p73icn3AGAAAUiKp5wOY6vSsi_cf_a26_Wjq_5zQA5Kg_7Ja7NSNTbiJ7gPLPARv_n7Qkn7aOkHynl8G-VFOZOPJdGZd6Qpd4/s4000/20230902_123550.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEynw3i_Ya1ff1H_7NMP4GJqbbTyLoWYH3JyEVk_BsxeNio-RdyvSQhWexv6QUWNiJYtmyZSXJMBV8iGrj9kpr0jz_q6p73icn3AGAAAUiKp5wOY6vSsi_cf_a26_Wjq_5zQA5Kg_7Ja7NSNTbiJ7gPLPARv_n7Qkn7aOkHynl8G-VFOZOPJdGZd6Qpd4/s320/20230902_123550.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The boys chose this venue for the day, a spot along the back straightaway with a big-screen visible (sort of, due to sun glare) across the track. While it was difficult to see any real racing action or follow what was going-on, the "being there" part was unforgettable. While someone watching TV at home is probably more comfortable and knows a lot more about how the race is unfolding, they don't get the sounds, the smells or any part of the atmosphere of events like these.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It that worth the travel, expense, the walking from the bus to the track (and back) the broiling in the sun, waiting-in-line for overpriced food and beverages (though of course being in Italy the food <u>was</u> pretty good...and the beer was cold!) while never really seeing all-that-much, unless you coughed up the stratospheric price for a reserved grandstand seat?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Hell yes! Now <i>Zio</i> can say he was there when <i>Verstappen</i> made history with 10 wins in-a-row. Does he have to go back next year? Hell no! As they say - <i>"Been there! Done that!"</i></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsyBR_172qK4vx92CKHRR0FU6_3H81xA7eU4DxcrpX05OHKzl7_5xd2dn32gvIcvL8Cm1FAtGD_KstN9ydOrdBATmYbZ5eUybPuCratuDkWYV0_FME6cNPxhJA3PFBDLSqAL6m0YCsa0eRNekkUSicxfjc5DaYs_gvKGwzOoh5Fc291eM1uewmChkKmh0/s3014/20230903_202538.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2203" data-original-width="3014" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsyBR_172qK4vx92CKHRR0FU6_3H81xA7eU4DxcrpX05OHKzl7_5xd2dn32gvIcvL8Cm1FAtGD_KstN9ydOrdBATmYbZ5eUybPuCratuDkWYV0_FME6cNPxhJA3PFBDLSqAL6m0YCsa0eRNekkUSicxfjc5DaYs_gvKGwzOoh5Fc291eM1uewmChkKmh0/s320/20230903_202538.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfU8xaWfj5H4uiiPRkC_XxBO_efo5IeKnKjuxgKVQ86leZy255JZd8bqFHpJ0v9nsr4s46Wo_EUGCMvxhgRZcsx9BoLMaaKFJSAdGGDBNiElTOP3y5ZVc5KxLnOGINXlD34UtJvI_Y5IkAoDxGlCODLGCgr5vSAj76fpSC3qc7yx7Y3nKPhEeVuyhlSxM/s3112/20230903_204516.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2484" data-original-width="3112" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfU8xaWfj5H4uiiPRkC_XxBO_efo5IeKnKjuxgKVQ86leZy255JZd8bqFHpJ0v9nsr4s46Wo_EUGCMvxhgRZcsx9BoLMaaKFJSAdGGDBNiElTOP3y5ZVc5KxLnOGINXlD34UtJvI_Y5IkAoDxGlCODLGCgr5vSAj76fpSC3qc7yx7Y3nKPhEeVuyhlSxM/s320/20230903_204516.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Zio</i> ended his adventure with a classic <i>risotto milanese</i> and <i>cotoletta</i> for dinner on Sunday evening before flying back to Sicily on Monday morning. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Mille grazie</i> to <i>Sergio</i> and <i>Lorenzo</i> (and <i>Mauro Mondonico - </i>that's him in front of <i>Sergio </i>meeting us for drinks on Friday evening) for a great weekend!</span></div><br /> </div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><br /><p><br /></p>Larry and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346445393389942837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280439984413663643.post-90923506436247332022023-08-28T09:58:00.005+02:002023-09-04T17:10:32.726+02:00Slip sliding away..<p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b> Slippery When Wet</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3g-XPI2eU6Z1S1vNePDmTF_fEGUWxm7mFLVew3lG2Azj2WChWp0ap0aIvOpXGETKrTAvwcZoBjeWPgrwR4oyIvxNQbCKXYQRdBjzJlrWYDAZx-K0DPlDUBUgiVRU8NT4CVC5FRgcM5ixfaXWc_gjtARlPdd2o3Q2AaLUsFGfVdxIsLiG2HME1-R8-8wQ/s200/Slippery-Wet-Bicycle-Sign-X-W8-10.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3g-XPI2eU6Z1S1vNePDmTF_fEGUWxm7mFLVew3lG2Azj2WChWp0ap0aIvOpXGETKrTAvwcZoBjeWPgrwR4oyIvxNQbCKXYQRdBjzJlrWYDAZx-K0DPlDUBUgiVRU8NT4CVC5FRgcM5ixfaXWc_gjtARlPdd2o3Q2AaLUsFGfVdxIsLiG2HME1-R8-8wQ/s1600/Slippery-Wet-Bicycle-Sign-X-W8-10.gif" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Been following the season's last grand tour? Our friend at <a href="http://www.bikeraceinfo.com/commentary/stanley-david/2023/2023-Vuelta-a-Espana-Preview.html">BikeRaceInfo</a> was pretty excited: <i>"</i></span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>This year, 2023, will go down as one of the finest seasons in cycling history. <u>This year’s Vuelta </u>will be equal to the task, that’s a stone cold lock, I promise. Keep the fino sherry and tapas at hand, put the cava on ice, this will be a superb GT."</i></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.cyclingweekly.com/racing/vuelta-a-espana-chaos-crashes-tacks-fan-videos-determining-the-results-and-threat-of-snow">Based on the first two stages</a>, you might want to wait on icing-down that <i>cava</i>? WTF? This thing is already hinting at the farcical scenes from this year's <i>Giro</i>. <i>Zio</i>'s already asked <a href="http://cycleitalia.blogspot.com/2023/05/cycling-too-dangerous.html">some of these questions</a> but did he miss something?</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">What really is going on? Can modern bicycles no longer be ridden on wet roads? Are wet roads somehow wetter now? <i>La Vuelta</i> 2023 started with a stage that should never have happened as it did. That CPA guy should have seen the "twilight team time trial" noted on the stage list and sent someone down there to make damn sure the street lighting was adequate. But he seems a lot more about CYA than CPA, reacting angrily post-incident rather than doing anything when problems could have been avoided.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Rain doesn't care who is out there when it falls. Bike races not held on velodromes have traditionally been run rain-or-shine, despite what our friend Mr. Stanley says he'd like to see. Why/how has this become such a contentious issue? What has changed?</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Are carbon bikes with stiff wheels unrideable on wet roads? They've been around awhile so how could that be the problem? Disc brakes? Perhaps, as they seem rather touchy and certainly more powerful than old-time rim brakes, so perhaps it's much easier to lock-up a wheel and hit the deck? What about the more recent "improvement" tubeless tires? Lower pressure in wider tires is hyped as a "game-changer" but does that mean the game has changed to where wet descents must be neutralized or avoided? Why doesn't a tire maker/marketer come up with a sticky rain tire ala MOTOGP?</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And why the go-slows? <i>Zio</i> thought of <i>Cancellara </i>slowing the Tour when his teammates (the <i>Schlecks</i>) couldn't ride down the hill without crashing. <i>Roglic</i> hits-the-deck so J-V neutralizes the race? Fair play? But when the race leader crashes J-V doesn't seem to care. Looked really bad on TV and unlikely to impress anyone new to the sport.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Then there's the issue of where the finish-line is. <i>Zio</i> thinks a bad precedent was created with the "two kilometer" rule, which is now three kilometers? In the bad-old-daze the GC contenders could all just sit up at the end of a sprint stage and roll-in together while the fast-men barreled-in to the finish. But somehow this was codified and nowadays you see a sort of mini-race to get to the spot where if you crash later you don't lose any time.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The result has been the "finish-line" has become subject to whim as was demonstrated on <i>Vuelta</i> Stage 2. A real farce!</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But don't get <i>Zio</i> wrong, there's plenty of blame to go around! A lot of it should rest at the feet (wheels?) of the riders as perhaps was the thought of the clown who threw tacks on the road yesterday? The riders certainly need to look out for themselves as they are traditionally expendable while teams, sponsors and race-organizers roll-on year after year. But instead of whining (tweeting...is that now xing?) before/after on social media they should vote-in a strong leader or just have someone take over and speak for the riders as <i>Bernard Hinault</i> used to do in those bad-old-daze.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Organize your labor and go on strike! Put your money where your tweets are! That's how two stages in the same day and other things riders hated were eliminated. There are some women in Spain who say they're not gonna take it anymore and will not play until things are changed - do they have bigger <i>cojones</i> than you? </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Otherwise, as they say -</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkwQhLJh-tg5utXZ8ZOch8e7EKhV8wi1AE-ZxV2ZYSB_o4vRwO7vW4AN7xX3AtvTIGj6sWolPTB7fVWTaqRsyxDdO71junutxK0-aOsmHMKA8WAxtL0pfqBFiqKbjdz0RtCVcpfaq_fiSkFZ_XlvVzB5FzI45lOb9SgcBoqVKM-M3AY7HC3HalBIcZuGE/s800/CBO-Shut-up-and-Ride-Tee-Shirt_White_fecc53f0-97fc-42bc-822e-c2dd3f81f731.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="800" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkwQhLJh-tg5utXZ8ZOch8e7EKhV8wi1AE-ZxV2ZYSB_o4vRwO7vW4AN7xX3AtvTIGj6sWolPTB7fVWTaqRsyxDdO71junutxK0-aOsmHMKA8WAxtL0pfqBFiqKbjdz0RtCVcpfaq_fiSkFZ_XlvVzB5FzI45lOb9SgcBoqVKM-M3AY7HC3HalBIcZuGE/s320/CBO-Shut-up-and-Ride-Tee-Shirt_White_fecc53f0-97fc-42bc-822e-c2dd3f81f731.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background-color: white;">Buy that t-shirt <a href="https://cambriabike.com/products/cbo-shut-up-and-ride-tee-shirt-white">HERE.</a></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Someone asked about the title "Slip sliding away.." <i>Zio</i> used that to imply where the credibility of pro cycling is going if episodes like these continue...</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Update: The hits just keep coming! <a href="https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-racing/vuelta-a-espana/mud-forces-race-organizers-to-neutralize-final-climb-at-vuelta-a-espana/">Here's the latest episode of this farce.</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><br /><p></p>Larry and Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16346445393389942837noreply@blogger.com0